Hi Listers,
Just thought I would let everyone know how the trip went to pickup
the car.
Left Lincoln at 7am on friday and made it to Clinton Ohio by
12 midnight that night. Along the way I stopped about 5 times trying
to resolve a problem with the load leveling shocks on the rear of my
caddy. When you first turn the car on the air compressor for the
rear air shocks turns on and a sensor tells the compressor when the
car is levelled. If the level changes to much during driving the pump
is supposed to turn on again and readjust the ride height. Well it
would appear that this system can't handle a trailer to well. What
was happening was the car rear end would be raised up somewhat when
the ignition was first turned on, but after a few minutes of driving
it would drift down and not return to its normal height. Needless to
say I was somewhat concerned what would happen when the 4A was
finally loaded on the trailer. After talking with my caddy mechanic
he said that the only thing left to do would be to load the car on
the trailer with its rear facing forward.
After loading the trailer in the above manner the load leveling
seemed to work somewhat better, not perfect but bearable. The trip
to Lewisburg Pennsylvania covered around 1200 miles. Seemed like we
hit every gas station along the way!! I did manage to drop off the
pair of Spitfire Mk2 seats to Randy Potter in Clarion Pennsylvania.
Randy, hope you liked the seats!!
Once arriving in Lewisburg we proceeded to load the car. With the
help of a couple of people that owned the land where the car was
stored and the PO the loading went real smooth, even with a flat tire
on the rear of the car. I used 3/8" chain to tie the car down on all
four corners. Then following the suggestion of the PO we let the air
out of all the tires. I had some doubts at first but after seeing
that the car didn't budge at all during the entire trip back I have
to admit it work great. Thanks Steve. The first day of the return
trip which was monday morning went pretty much like clockwork, one
gas station to the next. I met Rick Taylor in Dayton Ohio and bought
his aftermarket hardtop that he had available for the 4A. After
bolting the front of the hardtop to the windscreen frame and putting
a couple of nylon tie down straps on the back end of the top we
proceeded on our way. That evening we stopped in centerville
Indiana. That town was chosen because they have one of the most
unbelievable antique malls I have ever seen. The girl riding with
me likes to antique shop (so do I) so it was a must stop affair.
We left centerville around 1pm tuesday and drove through rain the
remainder of the trip. Fortunately it didn't drop believe freezing
until we hit Lincoln.
All in all it was a very quick trip that covered around 2800 miles
and burned a lot of gas. The custom made trailer worked flawlessly.
I'm glad I bought it and would do so again. The only concern I have
with the trailer is the possibility that it isn't balanced properly.
I'm going to looking into that sometime in the near future.
The car is not in quite as good a condition as what I thought when I
bought it, but I still feel that the purchase price for what I got is
about right. It is definitely going to need a frame off restoration
however. I'll keep the list updated on the progress of the
restoration. I can already see that I will be needing extensive help
from the list on this project!!! My wire wheel problem is just the
beginning.
Sorry if this was on the long and windy side.
Brad
1964 Spitfire4 BFC25720L (After 10 years will be on the road in
March!!!)
1966 TR4A CT72398L (Car is finally home and ready for
Restoration)
1951 Dodge Truck 82217766 B-3-B-108 (Boxes & Boxes of parts right now)
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