1 February 2009
It had been decided a while ago that I was going to take Betty down to Melbourne for Small Ford Sunday this year. All was go for the planned drive down there, car was prepped and I was phsyched. But the temps were hovering around 40 degrees. I went to plan B which was to leave at midnight on Friday night, drive through the night when it would be cooler, and then sleep all day Saturday to recover. Then at the last minute Steve Cady stepped in and saved the day. He was keen to come along too and kindy donated the services of his trailer. Go plan C! We cruised down in air conditioned comfort with Betty on the trailer. Good thing we did too. Was about 45 at Seymour. I reckon Betty wouldn't have made the drive.
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After cruising down with the other guys from the SFCC we got to the motel. Went for a quick bite and some beers. Then tried to sleep. Was still a bit warm. Next morning we headed out early, gave the cars a wash-down and headed out to the show. We got there too early, so found some bacon and egg rolls for breakfast. The day had started out nice and cool, but it soon started to warm up. It was another awesome event with some spectacular cars around. Plenty of awesome gear, a lot of which I'd be more than willing to have in my shed.
By about 2pm things were winding down. Steve and I had decided to get straight back on the road to get home that night. We made it back to Goulburn a bit before 1am with a couple of stops along the way. I was up early the next morning to drive Betty back down the mountain to get home in time for work. Another excellent weekend. And hopefully next time it will be cooler and I can drive down without getting scared.
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31 May 2009
All Ford Day had moved to Eastern Creek this year. So Talia and I took a drive up. We went on the Saturday and stayed the night with Uncle Pete and Aunty Bel. Tal had a ball playing there. They babysat on Sunday morning and took her to Luna Park. I headed out in the driving rain to Eastern Creek. I met Steve Cady just up the road in his beaut original mk1 4-door and we cruised in together. There was more rain in the morning, but then the sun came out and stayed for a few hours. Pete brought Talia down at about 2 and then we headed off back to Nowra.
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11 July 2009
After the All Ford Day and the drive home in the rain, Betty got parked up in the shed without even a hose down. So when she came back out for another dyno day and just got driven straight there she wasn't looking her best. Cruised up at 100kmh nicely though and after a chat to others and checking their runs out it was her turn. 28.7hp. We've lost 3 along the way somewhere. Oh well, not to worry. After a detour to the city to see dad after his hip replacement on the way home, we got caught in some traffic after taking a wrong turn. Talia and I took her for a drive around Nowra before I treated Betty to a wash before sticking her back in the shed.
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22/23 August 2009
Time for another Betty, Talia and dad road trip. The Eastern Creek Classic was on, so Betty got a wash down on the Saturday, and then we headed up to uncle Pete and aunty Bels to stay the night. They babysat on the Sunday morning again while I took Betty on down to the show. Its a great show this one, with so many awesome cars. Plenty I could have gladly taken home with me! Pete and Bel dropped Tal back at 3ish, and we loaded up and headed on home. When we got back I shuffled the junk around in the shed and made room to tuck Betty in for the night. It was a tight fit, but she was at least out of the weather.
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30 October 2009
I bit the bullet and booked Betty in to get her head gasket changed over. Was planning to drive to Cooma so didn't want anything to happen. Plus it had been weeping for a few years now, so was probably about due. Of course it wasn't just a simple matter of swapping the gasket over. Turns out the head was cracked accross the water jackets between cylinders 2 and 3. So I grabbed one of the spares out of the shed. But it was cracked too. Then they had trouble finding valve guides, so made their own. So it was a 2 week saga rather than just a simple 3 day proceedure. She's back now though, but still not running 100%. The idle is too high, and it stalls a bit. And the new temp sender is reading 3/4 instead of half like it used to. I need to find a decent workshop who can tune it properly, or learn how to do it myself.
After she came back from her heart surgury she got to move into her new home. Trev had his new big shed all done so we parked her in there. Still needs a wash cause she's got workshop dust all over her, so the cover will have to stay off for a bit.
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6/7 November 2009
It was finally time for the Cooma Motorfest weekend. Me and Drew had been planning and looking forward to this weekend for months. It was the first major show for Drew's Towrota Mazda B1600. We'd managed to convince Trev to let us borrow the Prado and trailer, so we could all head down together. Loaded her up in the rain on Thursday night (so she got all dirty), and then got going early Friday morning. With a couple of stops along the way we made it to Cooma by 12:30. Unloaded the trailer out at Drews dads place and left it there. We spent the afternoon washing cars, talking rubbish and checking out the old tat that AD has around the place. There is some awesome gear around there. At 5ish I took Betty back to mums and stole her garage.
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Sunday morning it was an early start. I went downtown and met Drew, AD and David in the main street. We all cruised up to the showground, and got our spot on the oval. Drew's cousin Phil was there too with his old granny Corolla panel van, packing a CA18 turbo. Excellent sleeper. It was a great day out, plenty to check out (over 400 cars). Plenty to walk past too :)
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