hot rod power tour 2010.
Overview: Our addiction has infilitrated the souls of others. Not only will it be my dad and I this year, but my best friend is returning to ride shot gun. I just might let her drive.
Our friends Bob + Debbie will complete the Long Haul with us in their AAR Cuda and Kel will bring his Porsche 944. John will join us at at Mid America Motorworks in his Corvette. Steve will catch us in his Vette at Bowling Green. And we'll see Cliff with his Camino in Chattanooga.
Helluva Georgia gang.
Our friends Bob + Debbie will complete the Long Haul with us in their AAR Cuda and Kel will bring his Porsche 944. John will join us at at Mid America Motorworks in his Corvette. Steve will catch us in his Vette at Bowling Green. And we'll see Cliff with his Camino in Chattanooga.
Helluva Georgia gang.
Pre-Power Tour Update #1: Morgan & Kristin in the blue El Camino, Bob & Debbie Betts in the yellow Cuda, & Dad in the silver Sting Ray. We met up at Waffle House this morning around 11:30 for a late brunch then headed out at 12pm. Mostly sunny driving today with one big thunderstorm. Bob & Dad both have deep Driver's Tans - left arms are very brown!! Mine didn't turn colors. Not sure if that is good (no wonky tan) or bad thing (no tan at all). We are at a Holiday Inn in Marion Illinois tonight with six hours to go tomorrow. We hit the road at 8am tomorrow. Lots of thumbs ups and head nods on the road. Dad says he likes being last in line because he can tell what type of car people interested based on if they hang out at the back of the line next to him, pull up next to Bob, or motor the front where Cammie is. We have only passed one Power Tourer so far, but the cops in Cooperstown Tennessee pulled into the gas station to say that they liked our cars and to have fun enjoying them! .
Pre-Power Tour Update #2: Fell asleep getting the computer set up last night, so here is yesterday's update. We drove another 400 miles yesterday which was pretty uneventful. I do now have a driver's tan so I'm not the only pasty driver. The GPS took us on a scenic detour randomly through some farm country which got us excited for the country roads we'll be driving on tour. We also passed 2 classic car yards: www.countryclassiccars.com and www.davescc.com. No stopping for shopping though! Today we head into Newton from Coralville, just about an hour drive, and car show all day. There was supposed to be drag races in the morning, but they have been rained out. There are track laps in the afternoon, so we're hoping we get to do that.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010: On Saturday, we drove from Coralville IA to Newton IA for the first day of Power
Tour. We car-showed some, checked in with vendors, and the Sting Ray and
Cammie both went on the circle track, Iowa Speedway.
Unfortunately, there had been some unruly groups out on the track just before
us, so we weren't allowed to go over 60mph but it was still a neat experience
driving on the banked track.
Sunday we drove from Newton to Springfield IL. The driver's meeting started
late and it was a long 300 miles between the two venues. We got into
Springfield close to 6pm (after an 8am meeting time), had to park waaaay far
out from the main stage, and really only had time to punch in before heading
to the hotel/dinner. Kristin & I met up with the Hot Rod videographer and the
Pioneer Audio marketing team and spent the evening socializing.
Today had us up bright and early again for a driver's meeting at a KMart
parking lot before heading out for DuQuoin IL. Today's drive was much
more enjoyable than the previous day and included a lunch stop at MidAmerica Motorworks. We missed a turn today, but found an easy route that put us back on track and gave us some enjoyable driving time. We got to DuQuoin in time to watch Pioneer finish a full sound system install on Bob's Cuda. He was selected as a winner for the system when he registered for Power Tour and left Springfield early to be at DuQuoin by noon for the install. The sound is awesome!
Cammie is now pictured on the Hot Rod website with 3 pictures! Here's a link to one of them: http://www.hotrod.com/powertour/2010/
hrdp_2010_hot_rod_power_tour_day_3_in_duquoin/photo_23.html
We are all having fun and seeing lots of cars & lots of corn!
Tour. We car-showed some, checked in with vendors, and the Sting Ray and
Cammie both went on the circle track, Iowa Speedway.
Unfortunately, there had been some unruly groups out on the track just before
us, so we weren't allowed to go over 60mph but it was still a neat experience
driving on the banked track.
Sunday we drove from Newton to Springfield IL. The driver's meeting started
late and it was a long 300 miles between the two venues. We got into
Springfield close to 6pm (after an 8am meeting time), had to park waaaay far
out from the main stage, and really only had time to punch in before heading
to the hotel/dinner. Kristin & I met up with the Hot Rod videographer and the
Pioneer Audio marketing team and spent the evening socializing.
Today had us up bright and early again for a driver's meeting at a KMart
parking lot before heading out for DuQuoin IL. Today's drive was much
more enjoyable than the previous day and included a lunch stop at MidAmerica Motorworks. We missed a turn today, but found an easy route that put us back on track and gave us some enjoyable driving time. We got to DuQuoin in time to watch Pioneer finish a full sound system install on Bob's Cuda. He was selected as a winner for the system when he registered for Power Tour and left Springfield early to be at DuQuoin by noon for the install. The sound is awesome!
Cammie is now pictured on the Hot Rod website with 3 pictures! Here's a link to one of them: http://www.hotrod.com/powertour/2010/
hrdp_2010_hot_rod_power_tour_day_3_in_duquoin/photo_23.html
We are all having fun and seeing lots of cars & lots of corn!
June 30, 2010: Ok so here is a summary of the remainder of the Power Tour. Apologies for our inability to keep you in the loop day by day but Morgan and I were challenged by my nigh time work pressures, the loss of her laptop power charger, and ultimately some car repair issues. This is a bit long so I will break it into two so you get some sense of time passing on the road.
As a reminder, it's Morgan and Kristin in the blue Cammie, me in the silver Vette, Bob and Debbie in the yellow Cuda 6 pack AAR clone, and John in his fifth generation SERIOUS horsepower red Vette. Then Steve B joins us in his red fifth generation Vette, followed by Kel who finally catches up to the Tour in Chattanooga - having suffered car trouble before even reaching the starting point - in his red Porsche 944. Are you seeing red yet?!?
You'll recall that in our last email Morgan left off with us leaving DuQuoin Illinois....
DuQuoin to Bowling Green KY, A nice day for a drive but really slow traffic with so many Power Tour cars all on the same two lane road. At one point John and Morgan got thru multiple long traffic lights in a small town that Bob and I got caught in, after which we then got held up behind a red 71 Mustang. Bob and I must have gone 20-30 minutes on a winding hilly 2 lane road trying to get past that 'stang, with no sign of Morgan or John. Finally a dotted center line with no oncoming traffic, so Bob stomped on his +400 rear wheel horses and said Hi Ho Silver!! - just as I noticed Morgan and John parked off to the side in a gas station!! Well now it was Bob who disappeared into the sunset as if he was Don Juan chasing the mythical Morgan and John windmills, unaware that we were all now falling well behind him ! After all now all 3 of us had to pass the mustang! Happily Bob eventually had to stop for gas.
That night Bob actually thought that Morgan and John had gotten lost for almost an hour until they eventually caught up with us! Nonetheless there were lots of spectators waving us on and we all made it safely to Bowling Green where we met up with Steve B in his late model red vette for a lovely nite together.
Bowling Green to Chattanooga TN - While everyone else in our group skipped the drivers meeting to beat the traffic, Morgan and I did a father/daughter day attending the Drivers Meeting and running together today. Unfortunately that meant another day of traffic. When we started doing the tour in 2007 we complained about the lines with 1500 Long Haulers - now there are 2500.
Math quiz: with a red light every two minutes, the average car being 20 ft long, and each travelling at 20 mph, calculate how long it takes 2500 hot rods to cross a one lane bridge! Luckily we had a great run in the countryside on TN county road 96 which I captured on video. But it still took us 3 1/2 hours to do 100 miles where we met Steve/John/Bob for lunch at a crowded old style drive in burger joint.
After that the next 100 miles werent so slow and we saw some wonderful Kentucky bridges/lakes dams. Nonetheless, we were starting to get weary given the heat +90, the humidity +80%, the slow routes and bad gas (no premium and water in the tanks after heavy rainfall).
Once in Chattanooga we joined up with Cliff in his El Camino and re-lived past and current Power Tour experiences with him before calling it a day. Happily Chattanooga was a great break for all of us that night. Bob and Deb got some time on their own. Kel had managed to install a used tranny in his 944 roadside and finally was freed from Keokuk, Iowa so he could join Morgan and Kristin in a night out at 'The Terminal' enjoying great food and conversation. And I joined Steve B and John for an entertaining meal at The Station House where some extremely talented waiters/waitresses sang us songs from the 50s to the 80s, followed by some great companionship and Kentucky bourbon under the roof of the old train old terminal with a lovely backdrop of lightening bolts flashing thru the sky behind John's chair.
Stay tuned for the finale ...! Steve
As a reminder, it's Morgan and Kristin in the blue Cammie, me in the silver Vette, Bob and Debbie in the yellow Cuda 6 pack AAR clone, and John in his fifth generation SERIOUS horsepower red Vette. Then Steve B joins us in his red fifth generation Vette, followed by Kel who finally catches up to the Tour in Chattanooga - having suffered car trouble before even reaching the starting point - in his red Porsche 944. Are you seeing red yet?!?
You'll recall that in our last email Morgan left off with us leaving DuQuoin Illinois....
DuQuoin to Bowling Green KY, A nice day for a drive but really slow traffic with so many Power Tour cars all on the same two lane road. At one point John and Morgan got thru multiple long traffic lights in a small town that Bob and I got caught in, after which we then got held up behind a red 71 Mustang. Bob and I must have gone 20-30 minutes on a winding hilly 2 lane road trying to get past that 'stang, with no sign of Morgan or John. Finally a dotted center line with no oncoming traffic, so Bob stomped on his +400 rear wheel horses and said Hi Ho Silver!! - just as I noticed Morgan and John parked off to the side in a gas station!! Well now it was Bob who disappeared into the sunset as if he was Don Juan chasing the mythical Morgan and John windmills, unaware that we were all now falling well behind him ! After all now all 3 of us had to pass the mustang! Happily Bob eventually had to stop for gas.
That night Bob actually thought that Morgan and John had gotten lost for almost an hour until they eventually caught up with us! Nonetheless there were lots of spectators waving us on and we all made it safely to Bowling Green where we met up with Steve B in his late model red vette for a lovely nite together.
Bowling Green to Chattanooga TN - While everyone else in our group skipped the drivers meeting to beat the traffic, Morgan and I did a father/daughter day attending the Drivers Meeting and running together today. Unfortunately that meant another day of traffic. When we started doing the tour in 2007 we complained about the lines with 1500 Long Haulers - now there are 2500.
Math quiz: with a red light every two minutes, the average car being 20 ft long, and each travelling at 20 mph, calculate how long it takes 2500 hot rods to cross a one lane bridge! Luckily we had a great run in the countryside on TN county road 96 which I captured on video. But it still took us 3 1/2 hours to do 100 miles where we met Steve/John/Bob for lunch at a crowded old style drive in burger joint.
After that the next 100 miles werent so slow and we saw some wonderful Kentucky bridges/lakes dams. Nonetheless, we were starting to get weary given the heat +90, the humidity +80%, the slow routes and bad gas (no premium and water in the tanks after heavy rainfall).
Once in Chattanooga we joined up with Cliff in his El Camino and re-lived past and current Power Tour experiences with him before calling it a day. Happily Chattanooga was a great break for all of us that night. Bob and Deb got some time on their own. Kel had managed to install a used tranny in his 944 roadside and finally was freed from Keokuk, Iowa so he could join Morgan and Kristin in a night out at 'The Terminal' enjoying great food and conversation. And I joined Steve B and John for an entertaining meal at The Station House where some extremely talented waiters/waitresses sang us songs from the 50s to the 80s, followed by some great companionship and Kentucky bourbon under the roof of the old train old terminal with a lovely backdrop of lightening bolts flashing thru the sky behind John's chair.
Stay tuned for the finale ...! Steve
Ok so we have just spent a stormy nite in Chattanooga and its time to hit the road again...
Chattanooga to Birmingham AL - Morgan and I took separate routes today. For the first time in 3 years I wanted to be fresh for the autocross competition, so I joined the vettes of Steve B and John following Bob's Cuda via the interstate to get to the track by early afternoon.
With Kel joining in his 944 Porsche, the Cammie and the Porsche took the Power Tour route thru the back country to give Kel a taste of the Tour's backroads. Turned out hot and relatively boring covering the " 3c's" - corn fields, conifers and catfish farms! Additionally the Cammie suffered from overheating and a very rough running motor, arriving in Birmingham around 3pm.
As you've seen from the autocross videos we both enjoyed the autocross - Morgan cutting two smooth runs placing her in the top 38 of 200 - in the biggest car in the field! Of my 3 runs, only the first was timed - as I went off course after horrible clutch slippage on run 2 and the timer didnt work on my best and final third run. On my one initial timed run, I was about second quicker than Morgan's best run, so I quess I can safely say I was in the top 37!
That nite was a miserable one for us. Both cars were hurtin to the point that I felt we had to give it up and trailer both back to Atlanta - 250 miles short of our goal. Despite working on it until midnight ( including being pulled over by the police - "not a good neghborhood at night to test cars in"), the Cammie was running real rough, tapping away noisily, and well down on power. I had no time to work on the Vette who's clutch was slipping badly on every granny shift I made.
Birmingham to Mobile AL - Plan One; Starting at 8 am I called UHaul to rent 2 trucks and 2 trailers to take the cars back to Atlanta - no problem - they'd call back with details by 9. I'd drive one and Bob would drive the second, followed by Deb in the 'Cuda. John and Steve were scheduled to head back, and they agreed to take Kristin. Morgan would go onwards to Mobile in Kel's 944 and then rent a car to get back to Atlanta while Kel went on vacation in Texas.
Nine oclock, ten oclock, ten thirty - UHaul calls - only one truck and trailer so far in 2 different locations so it will take me an hour just to get the first rig together. No idea on the second rig.
We decide to try adjusting the Vette's clutch while we wait for the second rig. John and Steve have both owned and repaired mid sixties vettes long before they got grey hair, so with their expertise the vette responds and I am back in the game !
Plan 2; Bob and Deb head back in their 'Cuda. Morgan has already left with Kel. Steve and John leave with Kristin. I call Carol to bring her Ram 4x4 and a trailer to get the Cammie the next day. I leave for Mobile at 12:30 leaving the Cammie with the employees of the Holiday Inn. I just hope the clutch adjustment will last another 800 miles until we get back to Atlanta!
Well the Vette performed flawlessly and i got to Mobile by 4pm. Morgan, Kel and I and some of Morgan's new friends from Iowa toured the downtown venue before heading out to dinner. I must say Mobile on a Friday summer's night is great. The streets and city parks were filled with musical groups playing everything from Do Wap to Joni Mitchell to Doobie Bothers to Motown hits. Lots of hot rods still lined the streets til midnight. And we had fried pickles, fried crawfish, and some of the gulf's greatest last fried oysters at the rustic Wintzel's Oyster House (established in 1938).
Mobile AL home to Atlanta : Well this was pretty straightforward. Morgan, Kel and I went to the USS Alabama battleship to be part of the Long Haul picture.
As Kel headed off to Texas, Morgan and I packed all our luggage, tools, spare parts, a cooler and two lawn chairs into the back of the vette and headed off to Birmingham to meet Carol and Bentley (Morgan's Bernese Mountain Dog). There we loaded the Cammie onto a trailer and Morgan and Bentley led in the Ram while Carol and I followed in the Vette. Home at last we went out for a quiet family dinner to re-live our adventures with Carol. Only problem was that Carol and Morgan kept telling me to keep my voice down. What they say? Driving 3000 miles in a side exhaust 66 Vette does that to you!
I left for California the next day where I have been for 2 weeks, so at this point we really dont know whats wrong with the Cammie. One theory is the bad gas caused us to jump the timing chain and it now needs to be re-timed. Hard to imagine given the timing chain is new and should be tight.
Another possibilty is camshaft failure although this too seems questionable if the camshaft is a 'roller cam' as per specifications. I quess its time for a new adventure, but this time in my garage! And in the meantime Morgan and I have already begun to 'discuss and cuss' about what we will do differently on next years Power Tour!
Enjoy the Drive!
Steve + Morgan
Chattanooga to Birmingham AL - Morgan and I took separate routes today. For the first time in 3 years I wanted to be fresh for the autocross competition, so I joined the vettes of Steve B and John following Bob's Cuda via the interstate to get to the track by early afternoon.
With Kel joining in his 944 Porsche, the Cammie and the Porsche took the Power Tour route thru the back country to give Kel a taste of the Tour's backroads. Turned out hot and relatively boring covering the " 3c's" - corn fields, conifers and catfish farms! Additionally the Cammie suffered from overheating and a very rough running motor, arriving in Birmingham around 3pm.
As you've seen from the autocross videos we both enjoyed the autocross - Morgan cutting two smooth runs placing her in the top 38 of 200 - in the biggest car in the field! Of my 3 runs, only the first was timed - as I went off course after horrible clutch slippage on run 2 and the timer didnt work on my best and final third run. On my one initial timed run, I was about second quicker than Morgan's best run, so I quess I can safely say I was in the top 37!
That nite was a miserable one for us. Both cars were hurtin to the point that I felt we had to give it up and trailer both back to Atlanta - 250 miles short of our goal. Despite working on it until midnight ( including being pulled over by the police - "not a good neghborhood at night to test cars in"), the Cammie was running real rough, tapping away noisily, and well down on power. I had no time to work on the Vette who's clutch was slipping badly on every granny shift I made.
Birmingham to Mobile AL - Plan One; Starting at 8 am I called UHaul to rent 2 trucks and 2 trailers to take the cars back to Atlanta - no problem - they'd call back with details by 9. I'd drive one and Bob would drive the second, followed by Deb in the 'Cuda. John and Steve were scheduled to head back, and they agreed to take Kristin. Morgan would go onwards to Mobile in Kel's 944 and then rent a car to get back to Atlanta while Kel went on vacation in Texas.
Nine oclock, ten oclock, ten thirty - UHaul calls - only one truck and trailer so far in 2 different locations so it will take me an hour just to get the first rig together. No idea on the second rig.
We decide to try adjusting the Vette's clutch while we wait for the second rig. John and Steve have both owned and repaired mid sixties vettes long before they got grey hair, so with their expertise the vette responds and I am back in the game !
Plan 2; Bob and Deb head back in their 'Cuda. Morgan has already left with Kel. Steve and John leave with Kristin. I call Carol to bring her Ram 4x4 and a trailer to get the Cammie the next day. I leave for Mobile at 12:30 leaving the Cammie with the employees of the Holiday Inn. I just hope the clutch adjustment will last another 800 miles until we get back to Atlanta!
Well the Vette performed flawlessly and i got to Mobile by 4pm. Morgan, Kel and I and some of Morgan's new friends from Iowa toured the downtown venue before heading out to dinner. I must say Mobile on a Friday summer's night is great. The streets and city parks were filled with musical groups playing everything from Do Wap to Joni Mitchell to Doobie Bothers to Motown hits. Lots of hot rods still lined the streets til midnight. And we had fried pickles, fried crawfish, and some of the gulf's greatest last fried oysters at the rustic Wintzel's Oyster House (established in 1938).
Mobile AL home to Atlanta : Well this was pretty straightforward. Morgan, Kel and I went to the USS Alabama battleship to be part of the Long Haul picture.
As Kel headed off to Texas, Morgan and I packed all our luggage, tools, spare parts, a cooler and two lawn chairs into the back of the vette and headed off to Birmingham to meet Carol and Bentley (Morgan's Bernese Mountain Dog). There we loaded the Cammie onto a trailer and Morgan and Bentley led in the Ram while Carol and I followed in the Vette. Home at last we went out for a quiet family dinner to re-live our adventures with Carol. Only problem was that Carol and Morgan kept telling me to keep my voice down. What they say? Driving 3000 miles in a side exhaust 66 Vette does that to you!
I left for California the next day where I have been for 2 weeks, so at this point we really dont know whats wrong with the Cammie. One theory is the bad gas caused us to jump the timing chain and it now needs to be re-timed. Hard to imagine given the timing chain is new and should be tight.
Another possibilty is camshaft failure although this too seems questionable if the camshaft is a 'roller cam' as per specifications. I quess its time for a new adventure, but this time in my garage! And in the meantime Morgan and I have already begun to 'discuss and cuss' about what we will do differently on next years Power Tour!
Enjoy the Drive!
Steve + Morgan