The weekend away with Loriann at Cape May at the NJ 50th anniversary celebration of the introduction of the Corvair was wonderful. We got a late start Friday with all the time it took me to swap tires/ wheels between Lucy and Heidi, so we didn’t even try to make it to the Friday night festivities at the host hotel – the party and unveiling of the 1960 model. It was really too bad since they did an “unveiling” of a beautifully restored ’60 to recreate the original experience. All of the audience was dressed in late-50s style clothing. Hopefully someone shot a video and posts it somewhere. Lucy ran great the trip down, although Loriann commented she’s a little loud.
After breakfast Saturday, I drove to Rotary Park in downtown Cape May to help with the parking of cars. The park was a perfect venue with the twenty-some Corvairs comfortably filling the space. We got TONS of walk through traffic due to the proximity of the main shopping area. The highlight for me was when Loriann let a couple of younger boys sit in Lucy. As the older one, probably 7 years old, got out he exclaimed, “This is the best day!” The show broke up around 3, and I was there to help direct the cars safely out of the park. I posted some pictures on Motortopia.
Sunday we took a detour on the way home to buy a welder from a guy in Middletown, DE. After that we had our only mis-adventure of the trip. I pulled into the Elkton, MD McDonalds to use the restroom, and when we returned to the car, we noticed a young gal in the car parked next to us with the hood up. She said her battery was dead, so I offered to give her a jump start. After hooking up the cables, I got into my Lucy and was revving the engine to get more current when the engine speed dropped to zero. Irrr. I checked, and there was no gas at the carbs – failed fuel pump. I was not well prepared, so I didn’t have the wrenches to R&R (remove and replace) a fuel pump, nor did I have a spare pump. I did have my Blackberry and cellphone, so I called the AutoZone just down the street and they said they had a pump for me. We walked there (via K-Mart to buy a wrench set) only to find out the pump they wanted to sell me was not an original mechanical one, but a universal electric pump that would have required significant re-plumbing and wiring. They could get me a stock one, but it would be the next day. Irrr. The only other auto parts store open in town had the same situation. We walked back to the car trying to figure out what we were going to do. Since Brianna had already left for VA there was no daughter available to drive the Suburban with the tow bar to rescue us. Loriann finally said, “Why don’t you make sure it’s the pump and not a clog; then we’ll decide what to do.” I disconnected the fuel lines into and out of the pump and had her crank the engine. I had suction on the input, but no pressure on the output. I pulled the pump off, took it apart, scraped some crap off some of the inside surfaces, banged it on the ground a couple times, blew it out, put it back together, stuck it back on the engine, hooked up the input line, and guess what? It worked when Loriann cranked the engine. Connected the output lines and drove it home without issue. Thank You Lord. She’s still in the driveway until I install a replacement.
The welder I bought is a used Craftsman Professional MIG welder. I’m excited about figuring out how to use it so I can replace rusted body panels on the fleet. Currently four of the five need patching. I only have to buy a helmet and some Argon gas since the guy threw in a regulator, gas tube, and a heavy-duty extension cord.
By the way, Heidi safely and uneventfully transported Brianna and her fiancé to Radford, VA. Thank You Lord for that too.
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