I can sum up the All British Day at Palo Alto like
this: We came, we saw, we sweated. Oh, and I bought an
MG. Oh, and I sold an MG.
Let me 'splain; When I woke up Saturday morning I
knew I had a lot of brit-car work to do, I just had no
idea that it'd be on a car that I didn't even own at
that point. Hey, but it was only 10am.
Saturday, the Day I bought an MG-
Up at 10, and I shot over to Orchard Supply to
pick up some hardware. The mistake I made was taking
the back way home, and I saw it. Out of the corner of
my eye, sitting forlorn in a front yard, was a dusty
MGB, with a giant "FOR SALE, NEEDS CLUTCH" sign at it's
side. Throwing all rational thoughts aside, I stopped.
And bought it. I didn't know *what* I was going to do
with it, but I knew I'd do something with it.
It was a '67 model, kinda leaf green, black
interior, wire wheels and two spares, side draught 45
DCOE, and had been in storage since 1986. Pressing on
the clutch did absolutely nothing, but it ran well. So
I paid the man, and drove the 100 feet down the street
to my house to figure out what to do with it.
Calling all the people who had always told me "If
you ever run across ...." came up nada, so I began
figuring out how I could get it to P.A. & put it up for
sale there. I easily managed to secure a truck, but the
trailer took a bit of doing. Between cleaning up Redcar
and determining that there was no way Essex that Riley
water pump would pump today, I finally managed to get
in touch with Scott Fisher's wife who had talked to
Scott, and yes, I could borrow his trailer.
Ironically enough, Scott was with *my* trailer when he
responded, but that's another story. Unfortunately
truck, trailer and me are at the extreme opposite
corners of Santa Clara County, so by the time I had
this motly tow setup at the B, it was 8pm, and I was
beat. Nevertheless I managed to load it all up & take
it to the car wash to get it presentable. Problem.
For those of you who've ever seen Scott's trailer,
you know what I'm speaking of, but for the uninformed few,
let's say it looks much like someone's welder art project.
And it sits *low*. Coupled with the truck sitting high,
and the city of Milpitas cutting wide trenches through
my street for no apparent reason, the back of the
trailer scraped so badly that it tore my tie down
straps in half. So after washing, (and probably waking
up half the town dragging the tail of the trailer at
1am, I flipped the hitch 180 degrees in an attempt to
get it to sit more level. It worked some.
Sunday, the day I sold an MG.
Up & at 'em early, me and the B, my friend Cinch,
Mike ("the hired gun") in Redcar, met Roland, TeriAnn,
Jeff Weintraub, Mike G. and his wife Sandy, for b'fast.
Afterwards we caravanned up to P.A. along with a
gaggle of Loti, Minis, etc. We were greeted with an
enormous line of cars waiting to get in, and since I
had a trailer I was told to wait across the street till
it cleared out. They let me back at 11am, and people
swarmed the B. All were lookers, excepting one old gent
who offered me $500. I politely declined. Tired of the
hard sell we meandered about, and expecting that
others will recap the event itself, I won't say much.
Except about the big-block TR6. 396, auto,
narrowed rearend, wheel tubs, & slicks. $3500. It's
what I need to get to work. Say no more.
About 2pm I got my first bite on the B. We
negotiated and agreed on a price, and the car was his.
Except he had no way to get it some 85 miles home. "No
problem, he said, take it off the trailer & I'll drive
it." I balked, didn't have a better idea, so we rolled
it off. He checked it all over, started it up in gear
and away he went with a big smile. I received no phone
calls that night so I assume he made it.
At that point Dick Nyquist offered me a very much
appreciated ale, and I began to relax & browse the cars.
Sorry so long for this, but I hope you found it
entertaining. Never a dull moment, you know. And a
"thankyouthankyouthankyou" to Scott & Kim Fisher for
the trailer, Jeff Weintraub for the truck, and all the
folks that brought me ale while I was sweating over my
B for a day. And no, I won't tell you how much it was.
;-)
cheers-
dstone@sc9.intel.com
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