Aloha Brett and the rest of the gang,
I am not ignoring you or the wonderful group that has given me so much
advice and got me where I am. YES!, Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Snow,
etc... would be able to stop me from the mission at hand. My home computer
that has the 6-pack email account (that I just figured out how to access
from my laptop) crashed the day after my return.
I wanted to do this grand story of my journey to post with the group but
time and personal creativity have been limited.
All went great, I arrived in Indianapolis around 3:30 on the 26th and got on
the road around 5PM that evening. First night made it to St. Louis, Second
night to Oklahoma City, third night to Flagstaff, AZ and then to San
Francisco the next day. She got on the ship on the 6th and made it to
Honolulu on the 12th. I had to wait until the 22nd until they got around to
turning her over to me. The weather was incredible, albeit colder than
$%I^... There was a huge snow storm that blanketed the ground from Indy to
western Arizona but we had clear skies the entire way. The only rain we had
was for about 15 minutes outside of Flagstaff.
We were truly blessed across the country. The only trouble I had was the
heater control valve blew in Tulsa but as long as we kept the heat on (and
our feet on fire) we were okay (I ordered a new one on the road so I would
have it when I got back). A wire came off the starter in eastern Arizona
that took a little while to figure out and as we rolled into Flagstaff on
Saturday night around 10 PM, we stopped to get gas and as I attempted to
charge it, the card was cancelled. Apparently, my cc company was concerned
that someone from Hawaii was charging gasoline all the way across the
country so they just cancelled it. I got that straightened out, went back
out to the car and tried to turn on the lights and the switch broke.
Well that caused a little concern as this was the first weekend of skiing in
Flagstaff for the season and all the rooms were full. The two of us driving
around with no lights and our emergency flashers on w/ temporary Indiana
plates, I'm surprised we didn't end up in jail somewhere. Finally found a
room, got some food and crashed. The next day we were determined to make it
to SF but at 750+ miles, I knew we needed our lights. That's when the
McGyver in me came out. I took apart the switch, inserted a top of a bic
pen covered with electrical tape onto the contacts and secured it with a zip
tie, wah lah, we were set.
As suspected, the car is not anywhere near as nice as I thought it was or
for that matter was portrayed on the internet but I did fall in love with
her somewhere around southern Missouri. It needs everything, the interior is
completely shot and there is much more rust than I was lead to believe. But
I truly look forward to the restoration. I've already spent $1,000 with TRF
and Victoria British + a NOS Laycock Clutch kit I found on the web (with the
advice and encouragement of Brent Kiser) . The kids love the car and would
sleep in it if I left them.
Thanks Brett and the rest of the group for the advise and encouragement. I
so look forward to the journey ahead.
Brett, Pictures enclosed for you. Anyone else interested, let me know and
I will forward.
Mark Bullard
Kailua, HI 96734
808-295-0002 cell.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Graffis [mailto:bgraffis@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 1:12 AM
To: mbullard@hawaii.rr.com
Subject: Re: First Cross Country Trip (in the dead of winter)
Mark,
Well, I couldn't help but notice that you had a posting on the 6-pack digest
so I assume you made it home from Indy. How was the trip? Did the weather
cooperate? Did the car? FYI: the temperature in Indianapolis dropped to
negative 2 (and that's without the widn chill) so be glad you weren't
driving then.
Cragrats again on the TR6.
Brett
>From: "Mark Bullard" <mbullard@hawaii.rr.com>
>To: "Brett Graffis" <bgraffis@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: First Cross Country Trip (in the dead of winter)
>Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 16:48:42 -1000
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>
>Brett,
>
>Just checking in. How's the weather holding out. I am leaving on
>Christmas
>night and arriving on the 26th in the afternoon. Plan on taking off early
>the next morning.
>
>Have a wonderful holiday.
>
>Mark
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Brett Graffis" <bgraffis@hotmail.com>
>To: <mbullard@hawaii.rr.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 3:33 AM
>Subject: Re: First Cross Country Trip (in the dead of winter)
>
>
> > Mark,
> >
> > In an effort to keep you on top of things, Indianapolis is a brisk 28
> > degrees today. The sky is actually pretty clear right now. We did have
> > some snow over the Thanksgiving weekend but not enough to accumulate on
>the
> > ground and make driving difficult.
> >
> > I'll let you know how things look a little closer to your travel time.
> > Indianapolis keeps the main roads pretty clear so I imagine you won't
>have
> > too much trouble.
> >
> > Brett
> > (317) 596-9063
> >
> >
> >
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