Subject: [Spridgets] History - Spridget electrical "fire" & want a Pasty?

From: Tim Collins <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 07:56:42 -0400

Here's a little bit of history and history in the making for today. 
First, the Spridget content.

In the '70's my wife and I went to a performance at the Calumet 
Theatre in Calumet, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula - about as far 
North as you can go without getting wet in Lake Superior. We parked 
right in front of the door to the theatre - scored a good spot.  When 
the performance was over and we were leaving, I turned the key and 
the Sprite filled with smoke - immediately! I quickly reached under 
the dash and wiggled any wires I could reach and it stopped - burned 
my fingers on the hot wires. Amazingly, the car started and we drove 
home. Latter I found that just the insulation had burned away and 
only one wire was affected. We turned out to be the second 
performance for the folks who were leaving the theatre behind us!

Here's a recent picture of the theatre:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/Uploads/asset_files/000/015/402/CCT_nom_calumet_theatre2100.jpg
or
http://tinyurl.com/lz7z6yb
We parked right in front of the covered entry on the right.

Fast forward to 2014. The folks in the Copper Country (nickname for 
that region) are planning a community event to sing the National 
Anthem in the theatre soon to mark the 200th anniversary of of 
Francis Scott Key's song being written at the peak of the War of 
1812. (I'm not sure how the math works out - seems to me 202 years). 
Here's a link to pictures to the inside of the theatre - it's a grand 
old building from another era and worth seeing.

If you would like to go and sing, you will be rewarded with a free 
pasty as you leave the theatre. That's; PASTY - a meat and vegetable 
mix wrapped in a "pie crust."

Here's the interior pics:
http://www.pasty.com/discus/messages/9211/9589.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/lolex2w

Tim
------------------------

[email-masked]

Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

---

From: GUY DAY <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:35:55 +0100

Hi Tim,

I was kinda hoping to see a picture of a smoking Sprite....

Glad
everything has turned out OK and thank Tim for reminding us all that Lucas,
the Prince of Darkness never sleeps and chews on wiring insulation as either
flossing or as a daily snack. 

Guy R Day

________________________________
From: Tim Collins <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked] 
Sent:
Monday, 23 June 2014, 12:56
Subject: [Spridgets] History - Spridget electrical
"fire" & want a Pasty?

Here's a little bit of history and history in the
making for today. 
First, the Spridget content.

In the '70's my wife and I
went to a performance at the Calumet 
Theatre in Calumet, Michigan in the
Upper Peninsula - about as far 
North as you can go without getting wet in
Lake Superior. We parked 
right in front of the door to the theatre - scored a
good spot.  When 
the performance was over and we were leaving, I turned the
key and 
the Sprite filled with smoke - immediately! I quickly reached under
the dash and wiggled any wires I could reach and it stopped - burned 
my
fingers on the hot wires. Amazingly, the car started and we drove 
home.
Latter I found that just the insulation had burned away and 
only one wire was
affected. We turned out to be the second 
performance for the folks who were
leaving the theatre behind us!

Here's a recent picture of the theatre:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/Uploads/asset_files/000/015/402/CCT_nom_calume
t_theatre2100.jpg
or
http://tinyurl.com/lz7z6yb
We parked right in front of
the covered entry on the right.

Fast forward to 2014. The folks in the Copper
Country (nickname for 
that region) are planning a community event to sing the
National 
Anthem in the theatre soon to mark the 200th anniversary of of
Francis Scott Key's song being written at the peak of the War of 
1812. (I'm
not sure how the math works out - seems to me 202 years). 
Here's a link to
pictures to the inside of the theatre - it's a grand 
old building from
another era and worth seeing.

If you would like to go and sing, you will be
rewarded with a free 
pasty as you leave the theatre. That's; PASTY - a meat
and vegetable 
mix wrapped in a "pie crust."

Tim
------------------------
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---

From: Tim Collins <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:35:44 -0400

>Guy R Day wrote:
>Glad everything has turned out OK and thank Tim for reminding us all 
>that Lucas, the Prince of Darkness never sleeps and chews on wiring 
>insulation as either flossing or as a daily snack.

Since Guy mentioned Mr. Lucas, I'll add to this story. Sometime 
before I bought the Sprite, a previous owner experienced an ignition 
switch failure (hard to believe, I know, but not unlike current GM 
news!) His solution was to wire in a push button to engage the 
starter since the "ignition on" part of the switch still worked. (I 
believe the dried out electrical tape he used was behind the smoke 
incident from my previous post.)

When I restored the car I attempted to rehab the ignition switch and 
thought I had fixed it. However, while out on one of the early maiden 
voyages, the car suddenly quit as I was driving along. I coasted to 
the curb - fortunately the power steering/power brakes still worked & 
the air bag wasn't much of an issue. At that point I didn't know why 
the engine stopped. After a few minutes I thought about trying the 
ignition switch and it started right up!

I issued a recall on the switch, bought a replacement from one of the 
vendors, and installed the switch. Installation  wasn't without 
challenges, however, since the terminals on the new switch were in a 
different order than the old one. After figuring out which were which 
the switch has worked well. (And, I shouldn't have just written that line!)

Finally, in the 1970's people didn't carry around cameras like they 
do today so no pictures were taken of the smoke, Guy And, the reason 
I was able to park directly in front of the theatre door was that the 
idea of Handicap parking spaces (or "cripple parking" as my 92 y.o. 
Father-in-law calls them) hadn't reached the Copper Country yet.

Times have changed: camera everywhere, handicap parking, and ignition 
switch recalls galore!

Tim
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