Hey List,
I have been out of touch (on purpose) for the last week. I went to visit my
mother this last week and she lives in extreme Northern California. As I
live in Southern California, it is an 8 hour drive to her house from mine.
Now my friends called me crazy, but I went on faith and took my roadster as
she had never seen it before. Now keep in mind that I had only had this car
a short time after getting it running again. I am sure the boys at CDM are
cringing to think I put 1000 miles on a car that had just recently been put
into running order. Well, Les said that it only had about 30 test miles on
it when I picked it up, so I thought "What the hell" and took it to my
mother's house.
The car ran like a top the whole time. I never had a single problem with it.
I averaged 80 mph on the desolation trail known as I-5. I got about 25 miles
per gallon with Solexes and I ran the engine at about 3500 rpm. I stopped
three times along the way, checked the oil and other fluids and she seemed
to be fine. My mom loved the car and I of course took her for a drive. If
you ever get your car to the wine country of california, you will not find a
prettier or funner venue for a drive. The drive home was uneventful as far
as the engine was concerned.
All of the posts about leaking tops and ride comfort and restoration Vs.
buying restored were dealt with by me on this trip. If you followed the
news, you know it rained cats and dogs up in that part of the state and I
was kept entertained by trying to keep up with the leaks from my hardtop. I
brought about 10 towels and they were soaked by the time I got home. Yes, my
butt was pretty tired by the time I got home, but the ride was not that bad.
I even got to go wide open on the throttle. It took a while and I was on a
flat road, but I hit 125 mph in my 33 year old car. Thank god the heater
works as it got cold in the grapevine!
So my car and I have had some experiences together. I think the Restore Vs.
Buy issue is a moot point. When you start to experience the joy of driving
one these things (even 1000 miles) it makes either the sacrifices you made
to earn the money to buy one or the sacrifices made in doing a restore
worthwhile.
So now that I am back, I will be fixing up the web site and getting back
onto the list. I will say this: our list is ACTIVE. I had almost 200 emails
when I got home.
Yikes!
Andrew Murphy
1967.5 2000 Solex (Well Traveled)
SoCalROC
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