The Road Trip to Cavallino Begins!

[Trachsel]

I have a single circuit master cylinder.

Tom,
Have you checked the other hose ? The burned one you cannot check, but I suppose in this case it may be the hose. Opening the bleeder shows, the caliper works. Try with new hoses.
Jacques

[Tom Wilson]

Well, I made it home in time to address all the flooding and storm issues that California had while I lounged in Palm Beach. Not too much damage to my tenants, but enough to keep me very busy this week. Missing all that rain almost made me appreciate the Florida humidity...

Cavallino was great; something I recommend that all of you try some day. Between the lectures, tour, fixing of cars, jet party, track, Ron Gaeta's party, the Cavallino Classic and Mar-A-Lago, we were busy the whole time. Seeing all the cars was something, but as always, meeting the internet gang was the best part. I enjoyed meeting everybody I met there and was happy to finally put a face to a name.

I was not happy with my camera (or maybe my understanding of it) on that trip, but here are a couple from the Cavallino Classic to give you an idea of what went on. As you arrived, you passed the newer cars (with the Breakers in the background). Did not spend too much time here, but it is always worth a stroll through.

Rear View.JPG (100.39 KiB) Viewed 10986 times

The layout of the vintage section was odd, as they did not group the cars by type or age. Thus the GTE's were separated into two groups. One section in the photo below had as follows ( I hope i get this right): Left Row- Tom Yang's GTE, A white Superfast & Tom Kizer's Queen. Middle Row - Gary & Susie Hiniker's GTE & Steve Piantieri's GTE. Right Row - Ron Gaeta's GTE, Black Superfast and Mark Dempsey's Queen.

Lower Tee.JPG (107.59 KiB) Viewed 10987 times

The other section had on the left: Scott Oshry's GTE, Alan Boe's GTE, Scott Kelly's 330 GTS, Bob Weiner's GTE and Frank Mollo's GTE. On the right row were 4 275's and Art Taxman's GTE.

Upper Tee.JPG (115.49 KiB) Viewed 10986 times

In a section to the north of us was a collection of Race Cars and on the green closest to the Breakers were the super high end vintage guys, but both areas were too crowded and anxiety ridden to get a good photo of the whole thing.

Thanks for a great time guys. I will definitely be back.

[TOMKIZER]

My Road Trip to Cavallino Ends!

The photo shows the morning after end of my road trip to Cavallino. By the way, that's a color photo. My queen experienced four days of driving (two going down and two coming back) and three days of towing on this open trailer (two going down and one long one coming back - Maryland to Quebec City). There were also five days of driving her in Palm Beach. Not all of these trips to shows is fun. My last day on the road (16 hours) was towing this trailer through snow storms in New York and Quebec, Canada. I was being chased by an even bigger snow storm.

I doubt the judges would give a prize for a car in the condition shown. Note the shape of the car with the snow being "styled by the wind" as Ford used to advertize. Unfortunately, there lots of salt mixed in that snow - but it washes off.

Even with the snow, this has been the best Ferrari experience of my life so far. Many thanks to Tom Y, Rich F, and Mark D. for sharing it with me, and for the hospitality shown to me along the way.

Tom Kizer

[Yale]

Hey Tom,

Your car, in an open trailer, covered by snow and salt, is there any difference in just driving it down? I would assume that towing a trailer in a snow storm is not fun which might balance out driving the Ferrari through the snow. i have driven my car in a snow storm....slowly. And I know the guys at Dominics had a Daytona customer who had them put snow tires on back in he day, which is a funny thought.

[TOMKIZER]

Hey Tom,

Your car, in an open trailer, covered by snow and salt, is there any difference in just driving it down? I would assume that towing a trailer in a snow storm is not fun which might balance out driving the Ferrari through the snow. i have driven my car in a snow storm....slowly. And I know the guys at Dominics had a Daytona customer who had them put snow tires on back in he day, which is a funny thought.

Hi Yale,

Before the trip, I perceived a few differences between towing on an open trailer and driving it down. Those differences were confirmed by the trip.

1. Most Important - My wife was afraid for me to be on the icy roads in extremely cold weather in a 41 year-old Italian car. She got really uptight about me driving from Quebec. It was about 14 deg F here when I left and about the same when I got back. With 30 mph winds, it doesn't take long to freeze to death if you slide off an icy road.

2. The queen was a modern car in 1969, but the wipers, washers, heater and defrosters were pretty low on Enzo's priority list.

3. The way I closed up the grill and lower facia holes with plastic panels and weatherstripped the hood opening cut lines, it kept almost all of the airflow out of the engine compartment, and having it up on the trailer kept the underside as well as the wheel wells quite clean. Todd Helme had very little detail work to do in the wheel wells and engine compartment when I got it to Florida. I lost the lower facia hole blocking plate on the way home. If I had been able to rent an enclosed trailer, I definitely would have.

4. I figured 2,200 to 2,500 miles on the car was enough. I didn't need to double my risk by doubling my driving mileage. All the way back while driving it, I expected to have to stop on the side of the road and change the front carb needle and seat which had started leaking while in Florida, tending to overflow that carb when the electric fuel pump was turned on. Fortunately Geoff Ohland came to my rescue by overnighting a spare to the Breakers, which I didn't need to use. At the same time, the mechanical fuel pump started exhibiting a deficiency at idle, causing the engine to go lean and stall due to low float levels. Geoff also send me a Fispa mechanical pump rebuild kit, that I also did not need to use. In Florida I found myself driving in traffic without the electric pump until the engine started running rough at idle (lean), then turning on the electric pump until it cleaned up and then started running rough again (rich). Talk about compound failures that aggravate each other. In the end, the car ran well at highway speeds all the way from Palm Beach to Mark D's house in Maryland, where I put it back on the trailer to tow it the rest of the way home.

Anyway, the truck and trailer were a PITA but everything worked out ok, including my wife's stress level - most important.

Tom Kizer

[afwrench]

Hi Tom, glad everything worked out and you had a great time.So nice to meet and chat over dinner at Tom Y's house.Despite the snow and the dark from what I could see your car is a peach! Congrats on a succsessful showing. Mike

[zac]

My hats off to you Tom K. What an amazing journey. If I was half the man you are I would have driven my modern car the 3000 easy miles across the South of the country. Trust me I wanted to and was seriously considering driving home from Florida. Not only did Tom make the almost 6K KM round trip in the dead of winter but he also brought his wife and inlaws along to enjoy the glory and glamour of Palm Beach. Congratulations on a job well done, a platinum award for your restoration is phenominal but I think most of us on this site can truely appreciate the mechanical award of producing a car that can actually be driven and enjoyed. C'est Bon

BTW Mark "France" is a country "French" is the language":)

Zac

[mdempsey]

BTW Mark "France" is a country "French" is the language":)

Oui je sais que le c'est une plaisanterie avec M. Kizer ! Mark

[mdempsey]

Je ne sais pas de beaucoup de français, mais je sais dire le chapeau ! Mark

[mdempsey]

Et oui, pouvoir rire à l'une est automatiquement ce que fait la vie un peu plus facile. Mark

[mdempsey]

Et enfin ! Non je n'ai pas été frappé par l'éclair et subitement capable de converser si en français mais plutôt, a trouvé bien ce traducteur frais sur la toile. Mark

[afwrench]

All this Frech talkin is so romantic! Just like a foreign film. Mike

[mdempsey]

A propos, ma femme pense que je suis idiot et m'appelant enfantin est une insulte aux enfants partout !

Translated it says: 'By the way, my wife thinks that I am an idiot and calling me childish is an insult to children everywhere!'

[sam231]

Tom K.,
We did not have a chance to see each other much this trip. My fractured french "Mon dieu, c'est vraiment fanatastique!" Congratulations on the award, you deserved it!
Sam

PS My wife and I are going to the Canadian GP. Are you around?

[TOMKIZER]

Mike, I enjoyed meeting you at Tom Y's house. I wish you could have come along also. We had a lot of fun - and stress - but mostly fun.

Zac, thanks for the compliments. Like last year, I had problems with the front carb, but unlike last year, it didn't keep me from going to Cavallino - thanks to the uncracked carb top you sent me last fall.

Sam, it was nice to see you and your daughter again. I wish you could have driven with us. If I go next year, it will probably be without my car, so I'll have more time to really socialize, like I did in Elkhart Lake. I got to meet and really talk to more new people in Elkhart Lake than I did in Cavallino. There's something relaxing about going to these events without a car, or at least without the judging. The car is really nice to use during the week. It's an entry ticket to things like the rallies and tours.

Bill Tracy, thanks for the hospitality and the place to have my car detailed. Please say hello and thanks to Lisa for me.

Mark D, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce you to my sister-in-law.

Thanks all for the wonderful trip I had.

Tom Kizer