The Great Sprite Odyssey Part Two B
After a couple of days rest it was off to the Carlisle Import & Repli/Kit Car
Nationals and Sprite Rush. This first thing to be said about the Carlisle
show was that you needed an umbrella and mud boots. There were about a dozen
Sprites that took the mud challenge to be present each day in the Fortieth
Anniversary, Sprite Rush front row area. It was apparent that the rain kept
most of the more exotic cars away. A local told us it had been raining for 12
days when we got there and it rained the three days of the Carlisle Show and
the first day of Sprite Rush.
Amy T. covered Sprite Rush so well that we will not repeat that information.
However we must add that indeed it was a BLAST. It was also great getting to
meet Rick Moses and his family as well as a lot of the folks in the newsgroup.
We enjoyed meeting the more vocal folks on the newsgroup (George and Frank
come to mind) and found it interesting that many people introduced themselves
as “lurkers.”
On the evening that Amy T. had electrical problems, Mixon in the red “59
Viper” Sprite had what looked like very serious engine problems. He decided
to leave his car with Rick Moses’ mechanic (sorry forgot his name) for
repairs. As it turned out we were going right past where Mixon lives on our
way to Richmond and were able to give him a lift home. We made an unplanned
visit to his town a couple of weeks later and found out that his problem was
not as serious as it had seemed. Whoever had helped (?) him put the engine
together did not torque the bolts on the head, fly wheel or front pulley
correctly and they were all coming loose. Most of the terrible noise that we
heard was the fly wheel wobbling around. They did do a complete tear down of
the engine but no serious damage was done.
After a delightful dinner with Mixon and his wife it was on to Richmond, VA
for British Car Day. We had lost our brake lights the last night of Sprite
Rush and thought it was just a wiring problem and left it for the next day.
It turned out to be the brake light switch so we trailered it to the Richmond
meet with hopes of finding a switch. No luck but we were able to find a switch
at NAPA that solved the problem on Monday. The Healey and Sprite turnout at
Richmond was very low, four big Healeys and seven Sprites and Midgets. We did
get to have a nice conversation with John Vrugtman, Tidewater AHC. There was
also an outstanding TVR and a very rare Ghia (I think) bodied Triumph. This
event was on a very hot and humid day which took its toll on Annice. She
returned to the RV to turn on the air conditioner on only to find that the
generator stopped working after only a few minutes. The gasoline supply had
gotten down to the point that the generator shut down. To be brief, we don’t
park the RV without enough gasoline for the generator any more.
After Richmond it was on to the Virginia Eastern Shore to visit with old
family friends. This was our turn around point and will be the start of Part
Three for those who have stayed with us through this long dialog.
Bob and Annice (Ann)
60 Sprite
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