I'm off to Cavallino

Hi Guys! Sorry to be away for sooo long but I've been extremely focused on prepping the Dino for Cavallino. It's been quite an experience--so many details to attend to--but I'm almost there. The big set-back was discovering the alternator was producing only 17 amps and therefore the ammeter appeared not to be working on the positive side - - not acceptable at Cavillino, one full point deduction! Next to taking out the engine, removing the alternator is my least favorite job. I did it over the course of several days and it and the ammeter are now 100%. I also forgot to factor in time for masking various paint projects, like re-doing the paint around the VIN Plate in the engine compartment . . . 90% masking time vs. 10% painting time. Pix below hammer home that fact. So my wife and I head for W. Palm Beach, FL on Wed towing a near perfect 71,200 mile Dino (now there's an oxymoron) in a new all AL trailer (see pix). I am still missing the passenger side "wing" vent latch (see pix of driver's side latch) should any of you have a spare. I've tried all the sources I'm aware of to no avail. Got one from Superformance but it is not near the original in design, quite modern looking!

Wish us luck and I'll fill you in on more "things I learned" while doing this extensive refresh.

Ciao,

Bill
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Well, not quite bacon . . . more like a beautiful silver chalice cup for Platinum in class and a gorgeous Tiffiny crystal vase for what is called "a senior award"--not related to my age--for "Outstanding V-6" at the Cavallino Classic XIX. I felt very honored to have done so well against 4 other very beautiful Dinos in the class, 1 red 206 and three GTS's in yellow, Rosso Duro (sort of burgandy with chairs and flares) and silver. I won't know what I scored until I request and receive my judging sheets from the chief judge for the Dino Class, Mike Epifanio.

I started the prep for this event just prior to Thanksgiving '09 and worked every detail I could think of on the car. The last time I did such a serious prep was for the 2006 FCA Annual Meet in Chantilly, VA. That was 7,000 miles ago! Now with 71,200 miles on the odo I wasn't certain I could do it again. The biggest delay was discovering that I didn't have a bad ammeter (it was giving me only a minuscule positive charge), but, rather, a bad alternator (max 17 amps). Yuck! I did this job once before about 15 years ago and I didn't remember the details, but I did remember it was a miserable job . . . and so it was. Five days later--including the rebuild by the experts at Mamock's in Annapolis--I was back to major detailing. Also, my thanks to Kendall Merritt and his crew at DEW Motorcars for all their help--there's no way I could have fabricated a new underbelly pan at home--and to Chris Davis, aka, "The DetailGuy," for the final paint "reconditioning" which was superb. Chris took care of the overspray errors I had caused and scratches caused by a drop light cord when I wasn't paying attention! Thank you, Chris!

And, yes, that is a Suderia shield on the 2002 GMC Envoy in the very first post of this thread. It's amazing how well this normal size SUV with the optional "Professional Tow Package" does pulling the Dino. The key is the very light-weight and aerodynamic custom Montrose Trailer that I had delivered on Dec 3rd 09 - - 1927lbs, all Al, dual Drexel 3500lbs axles each with electric brakes, fully-opening front, rear and huge "concessionaire" door on the side for easy in and out from the driver's seat. I found this company online in Nov and it was the answer to my needs for towing the Dino with the Envoy. The Envoy specs say, 6200lbs towing capacity and 11,000lbs Gross Combined Weight for it and the towed load. I had a certified GCW weight on this trip of 10,540lbs.

I'll post pix tomorrow.

Bill

 

You can read the details above and here's "the rest of the story" in pix:

#1 Chris Davis (aka, DetailGuy) finishing up the paint the day before we left for West Palm Beach, FL. I had completed work on interior, engine, everything underneath and all suspension/fenderwells. At this point I was either in the house packing or outside getting the trailer ready for its maiden voyage.
#2 The second day of travel--from Florence, SC to Daytona Beach, FL was hell - - 9 hours of driving in a torrential downpour. A squall line sat over I-95 all day. Not fun and we lost a lot of time. The third day (still wet) God thru in a tractor-trailer blown over by the wind, so we were parked on I-95 for 1 hour 15 minutes. An hour later we were battling heavy cross winds from the west which is not good when your trailer weighs more than the relatively short wheelbased pulling vehicle .
#3 We arrived at the Marriott West Palm Beach about 1:00pm on Friday, the day before the concours. We had planned to arrive late Thursday. Everything inside the trailer was damp from the heavy rain but that was not a problem. I unloaded the next A.M. and did last minute cleaning. The car was on the concours field by 9:00am
#4, 5, 6 - #4 shows all 5 Dinos that were in the class, all very nicely prepared. That's a 206GT in the foreground and I'm next to last. Judging was done by 3 very knowledgeable Dino Tifosi, each with a separate assigned part of the car - - exterior, interior and engine. It's quite rigorous but they only take about 20 minutes per car, then they compare notes and tally their points for your car. I can request my scores from the chief judge two weeks after the event. I know it's not a perfect car. I drive it! I'll fix whatever they took deductions for, a great way to keep the car as original as possible
#7 The silver chalice for Platinum in class
#8 The Tiffany crystal "Six Cylinder Ferrari Cup" which recognizes the outstanding 6-cylinder car on the field. That made the whole trip worthwhile!
#9 I had to take this shot on the way home 'cause it's kind of scary. That 18-wheeler is huge compared to my little rig! At times on the way down, I was doing 70 to 75mph in poring rain side-by-side with these guys. Why so fast, you ask? If these guys pass you with a 10 to 20 mph speed differential, it's like something literally pushing the trailer sideways. I decided to just keep up with them. As I said, scary!

That's the story. Hope you enjoyed it.

Bill
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