| Preparations
Well it should go without saying that after spending eight years restoring a Beetle, that I would be just a tad bit excited about putting it in a show. My ’57 is a "driver" first, but after going to VW shows for literally 12 years and thinking about "how I would do it", I was anxious about putting it in a show. So this page will highlight that show, the "Northeast Classic" held in Norwalk CT on June 4th, 2000 as well as my own "show" technique (at least for this first show). The show is sponsored by the Vintage VW Club of America (VVWCA) and the CT VW Association (CVA). I had quite a long list of things to do with my car that Saturday previous. I had put the wide white wall "show" wheels on it the weekend before and drove it around a bit, but it was pretty dirty and had sustained a substantial direct hit from some airborne fowl on the hood edge. And I had never waxed the car, so that was on the list. I washed it on the driveway and rolled it inside the garage. I cracked open a new can of Meguire’s wax and set to work with a clean rag. After finishing the hood and working up a sweat, I remember that I had bought a cheap waxer/polisher some time ago, and never used it. I found this thing, it was basically a 12volt motor with two 4" wide counter-rotating foam discs. I hooked it up and the wax went on smooth and quick then. Rubbing it off was still a chore though. I found that all-cotton terrycloth rags worked best. I spent some time wiring up the fuel gauge I had installed the previous weekend. My priority was just to get it in my car for the show, but of course I wanted to hook it up and see it working in the car too. I carefully fed some wires (ign power, ground, sender and dash light illumination circuit) down through the horn commutator grommet and hooked them up. I was concerned that the ground path from the tank might not be good, but when I flipped on the key, the thing worked. I forced the float down in the full tank and temporarily wired it there with some coat hanger wire, and checked the gauge. It showed half. Neat!! A few years back, I had asked
my mom (who occasionally combed flea markets in South Carolina where she
lived) to keep an eye out for an old olive green suitcase for my car; something
that I could carry "show" stuff in. At the end of last year, she sent me
TWO olive/lime green cases that she got for $1. So one was to be my "detail"
kit for rags, windex, brushes, etc. the other was for "props", magazines,
maps, binder stands, mirrors…..
And about binder stands and mirrors….. Over the years I seen LOTS of show car "displays". Some I liked, many I didn't. Many were overkill, and waay too much trouble to lug around. Anyone who has been to a large VW show, knows what I am talking about. Covering the ground with mirrors, taking wheels off, roped off surrounds, stuffed animals, trees (yes, trees), lights, you name it. Now much of that stuff is usually seen in the modified classes, most of the vintage, early car displays were pretty tame. But over the years, I had seen two slick things that I decided I wanted to do. The first was a binder stand.
You know, a photo album. I almost think that that every restoration car
should be required to have one. A photo history of the work that
was done on the car. I LOVE to look at them. How was the resto done? What
panels were replaced? Was the body taken off the pan? As you might expect,
with my resto’s extensive chronicle at my website, I had every intention
of having a binder. Actually, with the limited time I had, I didn't really
have time to put together as much of one as I plan on having ultimately.
But I had one. So where do you put this binder? Set it on the ground? No
way. Make a stand for it. Yeah, but who wants a stand that close to their
fresh paint? Even the heaviest stand can be knocked or blown over. Well,
the neat binder stand that I had seen solved that problem. I spent some
time at Home Depot, and some time with the MIG welder and the spray gun,
and built my neat stand.
Among my "props" (collected of the years while parusing antique stores in Vermont and other places) were several magazines, all from 1957. Life, Popular Science, Time, Household, etc. A tin pipe tobacco, several old maps, a Kodak "Tourist" camera, a couple tiny match books with a beetle and "Think Small" on them, and of course, my ’57 owners manual. Lastly, some quick notes about
my "detail" kit. I packed Windex, chrome polish and Armorall in a plastic
back, all my best cotton rags (freshly washed) and two paint brushes, clean,
never been used. One is cut off at an angle, very short. The other is just
regular length, a very soft poly bristle. These are perfect for cleaning
of wax residue and other debris between body moldings and running boards.
Also, I tossed in a brand new toothbrush for the same use. And finally,
a few kitchen sized garbage bags to put used rags in.
The Trip Down My wife tells people "there are only two things that John gets up early for; skiing and VW shows". Perhaps she is right. But over the years I have come to really enjoy the drive to the shows. There is usually almost no traffic on the roads early on a Sunday morning, and the New England country side is very pretty. This time I was planning to meet up with Bob Hayes, a fellow VW enthusiast from Paxton MA. Bob had accompanied us on out Bay State VW Owners Club cruise last April 8th in his ’77 orange Beetle convertible. But had had since put the car in the shop for a complete body restoration and of course they found much more rot than was expected, so the project was well behind schedule. So Bob met me at the I-84 toll plaza of the MA turnpike in his back up vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee. On the way to meet him though, my day's mechanical trouble began. Right away from home, I noticed that my speedo needle was bouncing a bit. Then, about 26 miles out, on the turnpike there was a muffled "whump" and the speedo needle fell limp. Ok speedo cable broke, but why? It was brand new? Well investigation at the show showed the cause. Just days earlier, I had clamped down the metal tube that the cable runs through (in the early Beetles, the speedo cable runs through a steel sleeve in the hood compartment). But this tube had been bent in the accident the car was in in the 60s, and its end no longer lined up well with the connection at the back of the speedo. Not noticing this when I clamped the cable down, the end of the cable, right at the speedo, was getting strong shear force applied to it. Worse off, later investigation found, the input spindle in the speedo seized up as well when the cable broke. I met up with Bob and we continued down I-84 toward Hartford. We stopped at exit 67’s McDonald's for breakfast. Ever since I had been coming to the CT shows, probably 10-12 years now, this was my "breakfast stop". Today would be no exception. I guy in McDonald's spotted my car and complimented on it. Then he went on to tell me about a friend who restored Duesengbergs or some older, high dollar marque. He said his friend coined a response to the "is it for sale" question that stuck with him. Hi friend replied to the query one (about his freshly restored Duesenberg) "No. But it everything has a price". We headed down 84, picking up 91 south in Hartford. Despite light to non-existent traffic, I was surprised to come up quickly on a good 6-7 feet of truck tire tread, sitting up on its edge, in the right lane. Luckily I saw it in time and gently steered around it. Luckily because swerving in a Beetle, with no sway equipment of any kind, and tall, skinny bias play tires would have probably produced some undesirable results. That would have sucked. We missed the northern access
to the Merrit Parkway off of 91 (actually called "Wilbur Crossing" that
far north) and went all the way down to 95 in New Haven. Merrit Parkway
is a nice median divided two lane road where trucks aren't allowed. I-95
is a pockmarked New York-ish high way. But we found a cut through exit
in Milford that led us to the Merrit Parkway. We arrived at the show at
8:55, exactly 3 hours after I had left home.
Mechanical Failures Other than the broken speedo cable, I found a slightly leaking fuel pump down back when I got to the show. Just enough to "wet" the tin underneath. I tried to tighten the compression fittings, but that didn't help. The next day, I ordered a rebuild kit from Wolfsburg West. Although not used much, that pump was rebuilt at least 10 years ago. My clutch still slipped a bit, but it will only do it at around 40mph in 4th gear. Lugging up hills at 50 or just below, foot on the floor, it was fine. Anyway, I ordered a new pressure plate and disk too. The other thing was kind of weird, I had heard a clicking/rubbing in what seemed like the right front hub earlier in the week. I didn't hear it on this trip until I stopped at a toll booth on the way home. Once I got going again, it was real loud, loud enough to be heard clearly with all the road/drivetrain noise at 60mph. It was no related to shoes dragging, because it didn't change at all if I stepped on the brakes. I thought it might have been the speedo cable (remember new cable connected to a seized up speedo at that point), but I had heard it before the cable broke too. Then when I got home and was backing up on the driveway, I t was real loud. Sounded like a brake spring being "plucked" with each rotation. First I raised the car and
spun all 4 wheels. As you might expect; nothing. So I pulled the right
front hub, expecting to see shiny metal or damage. And I saw nothing. What
I did find is LOOSE spindle nuts!!!! Yikes? The bend-over-the-tabs plate
was broken and the bearings were sloppy loose. I ordered some new lock
plates, but also tightened down the nuts and drove the car. For fleeting
moment I thought I heard the sound, then nothing. Hmmmm. Time will tell.
I think I was lucky with the bearings as they are the older ball type (not
roller). These kind will take quite a bit of abuse from being very loose
without damage.
Setting up the car for the show If there were an award for "Biggest Pile of Junk Behind a Show Car", I probably would have snagged that trophy too. In addition to my two sick green suitcases, I had my back pack, a cooler, a lawn chair (which I sat in all of 3 minutes the whole day), a ’66 door I brought down with me at the request of a guy from Long Island who wanted to buy it. Minutes after he paid me and took the door, Steve Meirz delivered the ’54 gas tank I had bought from him last year and never picked up. My initial plan was to park
and lock up as soon as I got there, scour the swaps for about an hour,
then come back around 10 and have 2 hours to detail the car (before judging).
Well, as soon as I got there people started checking out my car, so I felt
obliged to at least wipe the bugs off the nose. I did that, set up the
binder stand and mirror, got out the paint brush and a rag and cleaned
up the residue that I missed the night before with the quick wax job. Then
I Armoralled the running boards and the floor mats. Got out my "props"
and set them up. In all, it probably only took me about 45 mins, of course
people kept stopping by to chat and I would get sidetracked. A lot of folks
who knew me from the ‘net and my site and whom I had never seen in person
came by.
A quick summary of the event By far, the best show I have ever been to. Yes, of course the fact that I now had a car to show had something to do with it. But aside from that, everything was spectacular. The weather was perfect, about 70-75 and crystal blue sky, very comfortable humidity. It did get a little hot if you stood in the sun for a while, but you could run for the shelter of the trees around the field's edge. The CVA and VVWCA so a superb job with this show. It is FREE to spectators, show car registration plus driver is $7. It is well organized, they dealt with a near continuous 3 hour stream of show cars entering perfectly, there were no tie ups. The caterer offered great food at very reasonable prices. I had a burger, a hot dog and a cold 20 oz water for $5.50. I’d say the only thing that was moderately disappointing was that the swaps were a little thin compared to last year. Actually, I almost did something I have never done at a show: come back with MORE money than I left with. I sold the door for $50, and after buying an early headlight ring, a set of early radio knobs, 2 packs of fuses and a T-shirt (Front says "Still plays with bugs", back VW emblem) I was still ahead of the game. After lunch and buy a speedo cable I was a few dollars in the hole. I honestly think that this
show should serve as a model for other shows. The field layout, and everything
was perfect. No admittedly not every club has access to this type of location,
and there weren't expensive-to-run events like racing and no prize money,
but they guys really have this deal down. If you ever get a chance to make
this show, go for it. Go to www.mapquest.com
and search on Norwalk CT if you want to see where it is. Look about 7 miles
inland, just northeast of the Merrit Parkway (15) / highway 7 junction;
you will see Cranbury Park.
But the best part came
at the end of the awards ceremony, when I was awarded the "CVA President's
Award for Best Restoration". I was stunned. I was judged against the entire
field for this award, not just the Oval. Sa-WEET. I'd be happy to never
enter another show at this point (but, yeah, I guess I will).
Driving Home Bob Hayes followed me home in his Jeep Cherokee, until the Sturbridge exit on 84 North. About halfway home the weather suddenly got very cloudy and stormy looking. I headed down the Mass Pike east into near black skies. "Is it going to rain on me!!??" I opted to head up 290 back to Marlboro instead of going all the way to 495 North; just for a change of pace. I turned my lights on. Then, at the I-190 split, it happened. Rain. Fairly decent shower, but sporadic. It continued for about 7 miles or so on and off. I wasn’t enough to even get the roads fully wet, but enough for me to see nice water beads on my waxed hood, and to have to turn on the wipers and watch those pathetic little thing flop back and forth. No big deal, but I had finally driven my prize in the rain. |
