Convention

This last week/weekend was extremely hectic.  The Classic Thunderbird Club International hosted their bi-annual convention in my city, and I volunteered on the committee.  That turned out to be a pretty bold move for an introvert like me.

My job was arranging a 35 mile driving tour for the early Thunderbirds, ending at an 'interesting' destination.  I chose a route that highlights scenic vistas and then follows the coast road from the hotel to a pleasant botanical garden.  It was more work than I expected, since I had  to set up the parking with the garden staff, plan (and replan) the driving directions, train the lead drivers on the specifics of the route, make and layout the tour route signage, and then organize the drivers into groups on the day of the tour.  Fortunately, I had a lot of help!

On Wednesday the parking lot at the hotel began to fill up with about 150 baby-birds in different categories; Display (not judged), Touring (driving cars, and judged against each other in their sub-class), and Concours (intensely judged against a fixed set of rigorous criteria).  Some Concours cars have been recently restored and the owner want a check on the work of the restorer.  Other Concours cars are being judged so that the owner can get a detailed list of things to fix.  The Touring cars are there for fun and friendly competition!

As the hotel became more crowded, my introverted nature became more and more uncomfortable.  I also started to question if my planning was adequate, and started stressing out about the myriad of details that I might have forgotten!

Once again, I entered "Nell" in the "Hoods-Up Touring" class... because, well, her engine compartment is very pretty and still clean!  Plus, 'Hoods Up' is a smaller class, and the likelihood of getting an award should be good... or so I thought!

Nell is looking sharp!

Nell was looking better than she ever has!  I have made lots of subtle improvements since her last convention in 2013.  Then I found out that the other four cars in my class were owned by members of my club... I knew that their cars were very, very nice!  I didn't expect Nell to win anything.

We had two planned outings during the convention... the first was to a stylish local shopping/eating neighborhood.  The T-birds made a colorful spectacle in our reserved parking area!

The lineup at the 'dinner cruise-in'

The second outing was my driving tour to the gardens.   We managed to get almost 90 T-birds over the scenic route, past some stunning local landmarks and some very expensive real estate.  The 'birds in the garden made a beautiful sight!

I was blessed with enthusiastic compliments and affirming comments about the driving tour!  No one got lost, and the few minor breakdowns we had were quickly remedied!    I was frankly amazed that everyone enjoyed the tour so much!

While I didn't have time to participate in the Swap Meet before the tour, I contributed in my own way. Note that nothing was left when we returned from the tour... not even the box!  I'm sure the spare parts found a good home.

There were several silent auction and raffle prizes in the vendor room.  I bid on a couple, but I really wanted the aftermarket soft top provided by Prestige Thunderbird!  It's lightweight, compact design would probably fit behind the seat, even with it moved farther back than the stock position.  I figured that I might not get another opportunity like this, so I decided to make a serious bid.

I placed a bid that was about 20% less than retail, and won the auction!  Prestige still needs to send me replacement rear latches (it came with latches for a '57, which won't work on my '55), but I placed the top behind the seat... and it fits!  Once the latches are sorted out, I will post pics of the top up on the car.

"top in a box"

The top stows behind the seat.  The Prestige top is lighter and simpler than the  factory top.

It actually (barely) fits, even with the seat 2" farther back than the stock position!

The fire extinguisher had to be moved from behind the passenger seat, in order to make room for the soft top.  I found that it just fit underneath the dash between the glove box and the heater box.  I zip-tied the bracket to the diagonal dash support tube.  A surprisingly good fit!

The week seems to be going well for me!  At the awards banquet, I was in for another surprise...

I never expected Nell to win out over the other excellent cars in her division!  I am extremely pleased, but also humbled.  At the banquet I received still more accolades about the driving tour.  I feel totally surrounded by God's blessing and grace!

Recovery and Coolant

This car has been cooled using distilled water (no coolant added) since it's first self-propelled experience in June 2012.   I figured that water can draw more heat out of the engine than any glycol-based coolant mixture (that's one reason that racers always use water, not coolant), and since the car was designed to be cooled with water, I should avoid using coolant.   I've tried using various corrosion inhibitors, but for the first 6 months the car had only water in it.

I installed a plastic coolant recovery tank shortly after the first drive in 2012.

The white plastic thing to the right of the radiator is the coolant recovery tank.  It was clean in 2012

Last month I noticed that the water in the plastic coolant recovery tank was pretty brown. Disgusting, really.  I wondered about how much rust had built up in the engine over the past 4 years, so I opened the radiator cap and stuck my pinky in to check.  I was stunned by the quarter-inch layer of soft brown slime that had accumulated in the radiator upper tank!  I was shocked to think about how much rust had built up in the block and heads!  Time to do something about it! I ended up flushing the radiator and block multiple times, then adding a gallon of vinegar to the radiator and driving the car for three days as it broke up the sludge.  I flushed it again, and the water was still pretty brown!

One thing that helped immensely was installing a back-flush kit, and using a garden hose to flush the block and the radiator via a heater hose.  After the vinegar, this quickly got the rusty stuff out of the cooling system.

Now that the cooling system is clean,  perhaps I should re-evaluate my use of water as a coolant.  One of the frequent contributors to the Y-Block forum has a 56 T-bird, runs a 50-50 coolant mix, and drives the car in southern Arizona with no overheating problem.  Doing some more research, I find that older street cars are usually better off with IAT (inorganic acid technology, or green-colored) coolant of at least 30%, mixed with 70% water.  This provides the minimum corrosion protection, yet retains most of the good thermal properties of pure water.  Additional corrosion protection should be added every year.  Once I had the cooling system full of this "custom blend", I turned my attention to the coolant recovery tank.  The plastic thing looked a little 'cheap' compared to the rest of the engine compartment, and I quickly found an inexpensive stainless steel tank that looks much more professional.  Here are some shots of the brackets I had to make, along with the final product.

 

I think it looks much cooler than the plastic tank, and it's much easier to reach to fill!

Another minor improvement was my addition of a windshield washer pump.  The original manual foot pump was not recoverable, and because of the position of my brake combo valve the foot pump couldn't be installed in the original position anyway.  I managed to reconfigure what was left of the foot pump into a bracket for a momentary switch, so that the original foot pedal operates a switch instead of the pump directly.  I found an electric washer pump on Amazon for under $12, and hooked it up to the switch.  Running the lines to the washer nozzles under the dash was the hardest part, but not a problem once I had the right size tubing!  I was pretty pleased to have this arrangement work, especially since a replacement foot pump would have cost $80!

The electric washer pump hides behind the battery, and is practically invisible.  The original foot pump was modified with a momentary switch.

As I continued detailing the engine compartment for the upcoming CTCI convention, I noticed that the horn relay was looking pretty shabby... I had done nothing to preserve it in 2012.  It's located in a place where it's bound to get wet in the rain, and likely to rust.

This would never do!  When I got ready to paint the recovery tank brackets, I went ahead and painted the relay gloss black, so it matches the 'regulator' box next to it.  

I am very happy with the car, and I'm feeling quite blessed to have it and the privilege to work on it!  I had a big family party two weeks ago, and I was able to give several Cousins, Uncles, and my Aunt celebratory rides in the car!  My Aunt  had owned this car for 11 years ('61-72), and it was a special treat to be able to have her ride in this car that had meant so much to her!  She regaled me with many stories of the car, and the trips she took in it with her Mom.  What a special time!