Hi folks!
Your looking (through your CRT of course) at the proud new owner of a
used J-type overdrive. :-> Friday Paul, Dean, and I headed up to
Carlisle to spend money. We all succeed. When we left, none of us
had any money whatsoever, and thank goodness the gas stations take
credit!
Here *was* the gameplan. Paul and Dean would drive Paul's TR6 the
furthest drive since he owned it, and I would take the VW Golf parts
chaser. (Hey, it holds lots of parts!) Arrive at Carlisle, head for my
overdrive and buy it. Check my wheels, and buy them. Head to the TRF
display and trade in the TR4 dash pads for the TR6 dash pads. Look
around, talk to SOLer's spend money, gaggle at cars, etc...
Anywho, I found my overdrive. They guy there said, "I've had four
people ask if I would sell them the overdrive." I thanked the nice
man for not selling *my* overdrive and handed him a fistfull of hard
earned Ben Franklins. I was able to unload my old trans, and put the
overdrive in the car right there at his booth. I was also able to
load my wheels into the car right there as the man with my wheels was
parked right next to my overdrive guy! Very convenient. This was a
good sign that the day was turning out well. Over to TRF. They had
my pads, but they got damaged bringing them to Carlisle. Oh well, I'll
just have to send them in for exchange. BUT, they had some *slightly*
flawed bullet chrome mirrors for $15! I bought two. Then I found the
deal of a century. They had a sealed $80 door panel for $15 for my
TR6. It was like finding the last pair of sale shoes in your size.
Alas they only had the driver side, so I guess I'll have to keep going
to car shows until I find a *slightly* flawed right side. :-)
I had intended to meet George Haynes and El, but I had lost the scrap
of paper that noted their location.
Upon our arrival at home, Dean departed, and Paul and I retired to
drink homebrew. I checked the new gearbox and found the pin
connecting the release-bearing fork to the rod thing was broken. This
is the pin that always breaks in the TR6. I wish I had my old fork as
it was drilled to remove these pins. I then remembered. I remembered
that I forgot. I remembered that I forgot the overdrive switch. I
had left it in Carlisle. Drat! Off to Carlisle on saturday then. I
figured I might even be able to remove my old fork from my core
gearbox. Perhaps we could even meet up with some of the other SOL
folk we missed on friday.
Paul and I headed out in his reliably dependable TR6 Saturday morning
at 7:30. We figured that we could be back home by noon at the latest.
We switched drivers on the way there and I had the wheel. On the way
there, something strange happened. Paul and I gave each other the
same confused look as we acknowledged that something happened but
neither of us knew what. However, we made it to Carlisle once again.
I immediately ran to my overdrive man and said, "Hello, I forgot..."
He interrupted, "... the switch to the overdrive. I had to put it back
on the truck. That'll be a 10% restocking fee." He smiled and handed
my the overdrive switch, and said that he was planning on mailing the
switch to me. And I do believe that it would have been in the mail
on monday. This is a guy we need to add to the british parts list.
Paul and I then ventured over to see fellow SOLers George and El.
These are some more GREAT people from the list. If we ever got all
the SOL in one place it would be a heck of a party! As it turned out
their spot was about 10 steps from where I bought my overdrive. Don't
get me wrong Carlisle was big. Lots and lots of parts. It's just
that all my money ended up in one corner. I then remembered that I
wanted to get my old fork out of my trans. I turned around, took ten
steps and asked about my old fork on my trans, and he agreed that I
could have it. Great! Now all I need is some tools. 10 steps, and
El had me in business. But no punch! (My locating pin was broken) I
tried to convince El that I wouldn't hurt his screwdrivers, but he
wouldn't let me wack them with his hammer. So I walked 10 steps in
another direction and bought a used punch for $1. 30 minutes later, I
had my fork and rod, and gave El a punch. (Which he graciously
accepted.)
Anyway, I've got lots more to tell, but this is long enough already.
I tried to local Bill Sohl twice, but failed both times! Bill, you'll
have to come down to the Bowie show. I'm planning on installing the
trans tonight, and I'll let you all know how it goes.
To sum up Carlisle, it's a great event. If you are within 350 miles,
it's well worth the trip. Just an amazing array of vendors and cars.
Cobra repla kits galor. (Roland would have liked it me thinks...)
Cheers!
-Scotty
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