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Had another great time this weekend, nice to see old friends and make some new ones. Weather was great, albeit a little on the hot and humid side, but nothing overbearing.
We started our journey from Troy at 4:00 AM Saturday morning hoping to get in early enough to check in at the Comfort Inn and be able to head out to Bay Pointe Inn to rendezvous with everyone before the days activities started. We did manage to get to the Comfort Inn okay, but I committed the ultimate sin before we departed for the rendezvous, I FORGOT TOP FILL UP THE GAS TANK!… Sure enough we got stranded on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere less than half a mile from the road we were supposed to be on! Luckily we managed to get a hold of our friend Greg Long(thank goodness cell service was still working in that area!) and he and Ken and Merlin came to our rescue with gas and an IRSD (improvised road side device) to get us back on the road.
Though we were late in getting to the days activities the selection of cars was very nice to see along with everyone else.
Saturday evening we arrived at the Bay Pointe Inn only to see a State Trooper truck in the parking lot talking to Dave Stevens. Seems a lady lost control of her vehicle in the parking lot and crashed into the back of Dave’s 36 Pierce. Though Dave was only shaken in the incident, the car was severely damaged and just set a real damper on the festive mood in general.
Once inside though, the dinner was outstanding as well as the company.
After the announcements were given the GLR membership surprised David and Diana by awarding them an outstanding achievement award for all their services and contributions to the PAS over the years.(And believe me, they deserved it!) They were then awarded a HUGE honorary first place trophy for all the years they never won a trophy for their cars in the show. (I hope you had enough room in the truck for that one Dave!)
Sunday was bright sunshine and cloudless skies, and a great turnout of vehicles for the show. The only downfall was the fact that the whole museum complex lost power shortly before we all arrived. But, everyone took it in great stride and went ahead and it was still a great Gathering.
Well done Dave and Diana, looking forward to the 10th anniversary next year.
And, on a more personal note, thanks again to Greg, Ken and Merlin for rescuing us Saturday morning. We are very blessed to have friends like you.
it seems that greg long did alot of extra duty during the weekend. My 1928 81 runabout had “some issues” on the first day of touring and arrived back at Bay Pointe on a flat bed. after dinner greg, along with several other mechanics, “field stripped” the carborator, cleaned the junk out of it, and redid the settings on it. some gear oil also appeared to fix a noise in the hub of my fan. thanks greg and all that helped.
george quay
greg also jump started my truck that had a dead battery at the end of the show. he is always there at the righ time.
You two are going to make me blush!
The greatest part of this ‘hobby’ is the comradarie, and sharing.
Sometimes you share knowledge, sometimes time and muscle, sometimes a
few gallons of gasoline. Sometimes just sharing time, experiences and friendship.. all are the cornerstone of our hobby and our Society.
This time we were able to play ‘Mcquiver’. When just pouring several gallons of gasoline in Curtis’ V12’s fuel tank didn’t get the engine running, and I feared that we may drain the battery or overheat the starter, we put on our ‘McGuiver’ hat..
I asked Curtis if he had any fuel hose, a siphon hose or anything, and the only item he had was this heavy-duty ‘Slurpie’ cup, with heavy-duty straw. I tried the straw to see if it would thread onto the fuel line flare fitting at the carb, but it wouldn’t, but I thought I could hold it against the end of the fitting well enough to get some fuel into the carbs.
Since there wasn’t a funnel around, I used my pocket knife to whittle a hole in the side of the cup, and managed to make a leak-free connection for the straw.
Note to TSA: a pocket knife is NOT a weapon, it’s a tool !
With me holding the ‘staw’ against the fuel line fitting on the carb, Merlin poured gasoline into the cup, high enough to get some gravity ‘pressure’.. slowly the fuel drained into the cup, I added a bit of ‘lung pressure’ by sealing my chin and cheeks against the top of the cup and blowing into the container,, the gas slowly transfered into the carbs.
With a bit of choke and starter, the big V12 fired up, and a few seconds later, the fuel pump delivered fuel through the disconnected fuel line, it was quickly reattached to the carb’s fuel fitting, and the car was on the road. !!
Who would have thought that a ‘Slurpie’ cup could become an emergency
‘Improvised Road Side Device’ ?
I was thinking of calling it an ‘IFD’ : Improvised Fueling Device.
George Quay’s car just needed some TLC, and it got it. And several awards at the Gathering show field too!!
Everybody got back home safely too !.
I’ve traced several parts for the repair of Dave Stevens’ ’36.
Thankfully Dave nor anyone else was injured in the parking lot accident!
Greg Long
You can see where the modern car drove across the grass berm, wheels spinning, hit Dave’s ’36, pushed it ahead, then the car continued to jump another curb and berm, drove over the landscape bushes and rocks, and still left tire tracks on the pavement on the other side.
With all the people usually looking at the cars, it was a miracle that nobody was around to get run over of injured.
Of course Dave did sustain a few bumps and bruises, he had his head inside the driver’s door when the car was hit. The car moved ahead and the door frame smaked him in the mouth.
It could have been MUCH worse ! We could have had several ambulances there instead of one State Trooper Vehicle.
In the above photo Dave was blocking the view of the damage to his car, here is a photo of the rear of his car.
I’ve located a fender, a rear quarter for the body, and am looking for the tailight lenses.
Greg
Dave and Diana performed their usual fabulous job hosting a Meet. Aside from the mishaps mentioned above, fun was had by all.
Gene Reeves was instrumental in aligning the Mitchell Annual Meet with The Gathering at the Gilmore. What a nice bunch of folks. The concept worked well by all accounts.
Dave and Diana continue to think outside the box and provide us with fun outings. We saw four car collections we had not been to previously. Dave promised three but, delivered four.
If you missed it this year I suggest you not make the same mistake next year.
Happy Motoring,
Rick
Dave, very sorry to hear that your car got hit at the meet and to top it off you were also injured in the incident.
Hope you recover quickly and you get your car back into service soon.
Aside from the mishap to Dave’s car it sounds like everyone had a great time and enjoyed one of the better meets put on by the Society.
I hope to one day venture to the ‘other’ side of the country and take part in one myself.