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Seems now would be about time to make hotel reservations. Which hotel is the normal one for this group? If I bring a car on a trailer, where does the trailer and tow vehicle get parked? I guess we drive our cars to a special spot for club display. Are they left there for the three days or can we drive them to the hotel each night? What else do I need to know and be ready for? Thanks.
1986 British Coach Works Type 52 (Sammy)
Chevy 2.8 V6, 5 speedThe Courtyard Marriott in Mechanicsburg is the venue of choice. They provide a reserved area of their parking lot for the group with room for trailers. We piggyback with the Speedster Owners Group. There is usually a discount through the group for room rates.
But…It’s way to early.
Now that this subject has been brought up, who is heading up this years meet? I was led to believe Corey was only doing it for the one year.(And he did a hell of a job, I think)
Anybody know?
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"It me.
Start making plans right now for Carlisle 2019. This coming year will see some changes, and the first of these is this: we have a nicer hotel with cheaper rooms—$129 a night.
We’ll be at The Marriott Shippensberg and, instead of running out to Caddy Shack on Thursday evening, we’ll have a barbecue right on the hotel patio, which features a fire pit and a grill. Look at this place!
The place also has a full bar and we’re getting a much bigger hospitality room that can double as a dining room if it rains. It’s a sweet setup.
We’re also getting well-lit, exclusive parking in the rear of the building
and a free breakfast buffet on Friday morning. Shippensberg is a college town with other meal options close by (I’ll have more on those later). And of course for you egg sammich partisans it’s 23 miles from the fairgrounds, about half an hour. No tolls.
Alan “Dr. Clock” Merklin is working up a short cruise in the hills nearby, since it’s close to his old stomping grounds. He’ll have more soon on the room block.
I’ve got more to share about the weekend’s festivities and will be blowing the horn about it often and loudly in the coming months. Save the dates now: May 16-19, and get ready to grab your showfield passes when the sale starts.
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I will probably flat tow. And this will be my first long distance flat tow. Any suggestions as to what to be aware of and spares to bring?
1986 British Coach Works Type 52 (Sammy)
Chevy 2.8 V6, 5 speedRooms can be booked now?
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Flat Towing:
It’s really no more difficult than towing around your block, except you need to be aware of the fact that you can not back up. This may cause some problems when getting fuel. Truck stops work well.
You will be tempted to go the same speed as traffic. Do you want the top up or down? Your choice. Either way the top or the tonneau will tend to fill with air and billow up. If the top up, then you might want to run some tape up the seam where the side curtain meets the windscreen else one (and then more) of the snaps comes loose and they “unzip” and you lose a side curtain. If you tow top down with the tonneau installed, I recommend removing the toad’s steering wheel else you may wear a hole in your tonneau.
I prefer bright magnetic stop and turn signals and attach them to the toad’s bumper over-riders and then put a wrap of gorilla tape around them for security against vibrating off.
I usually pump up the toad’s tires to 28-30 psi and carry a small air compressor.
Be careful and choose a hitch receiver that allows the tow bar to be as close to level as possible favoring a slight up (from toad to tow vehicle) angle so that on emergency stops the front of the toad doesn’t try to rise. Remember that you will have NO tongue weight, so if your hitch is loose in the receiver, it will rattle and annoy you the whole trip. Wooden shims and/or tape can help to make the toad quieter.
….and I won’t repeat the good fatherly advice about toads being in neutral, emergency brake off, steering wheel unlocked, stopping distances, mirrors, practice runs around the block, gawkers, and about being able to see the toad (depending on the tow vehicle). You might be more comfortable attaching a bicycle flag to the rear bumper of the toad (if so, put it dead center on the rear bumper).
Flat towing is the way to go. I have flat towed many thousands of miles between Connecticut to Florida and countless shorter trips. Never a problem except the (old) Garden State Parkway in NJ where it was prohibited (1960’s).
Bill: I don’t know if Alan has the rooms blocked out yet but I think so. If you call the hotel and ask for the Speedster Owners Group room rate you’ll know.
Plenty of time and more announcements coming soon.
+1 on flat towing. Also make sure you have a chain or fat cable running from your tow chassis to the Toad’s beam, independent of the tow bar. It’s good insurance and some states require it.
Ed
Thanks for all you work in keeping this even going. I will have to miss this year. My sister and I are walking the Camino de Santiago from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain in May 2019, about 160 miles.
I have flat towed from Chicago several times with no issues. Have towed with tonneau cover on each time and have not experienced any wear due to steering wheel. The one issue I experienced was the cables feeding the tow light were somewhat loose at the rear fender and flapped in the wind repeatedly hitting the fender and scuffing some of the paint. I now make sure the cables are tapped to car body with no slack.
Al Greig
We’ll miss you Al.
Hoping to crank up the turnout this year and we got some cool stuff simmering.
Thanks for all the towing advice. All good suggestions that I will take. Has anyone had a problem with front tires not returning to straight after a turn? Especially with wide tires?
1986 British Coach Works Type 52 (Sammy)
Chevy 2.8 V6, 5 speedI have not had a problem like you describe. However, if you do have that problem, you definitely need to get it corrected before flat towing.
I believe you are looking at a castor problem. Various suppliers sell castor shims to correct this for the VW suspension. They are inexpensive and may correct your problem. Do not attempt to flat tow if your steering does not self center after a turn. Very dangerous!
Hey everyone it’s time to buy your Carlisle tickets at 20% off.
(pictured: Richard Wobby’s Allison TD)Most of you know they do this sale every year but for you newbies: The Carlisle Kit and Import (nka “Import and Performance”) Nationals is this club’s main east coast gathering and has been for the past many many years.
With rare exceptions our members go “non-judged” but every so often someone ponies up the extra sawbuck and probably wins a trophy, as happened a few years back with Cory Drake’s Famous Hoopty Special.
Get your tickets early and enjoy getting your window sticker in the mail weeks before the May 17 show date.
And please remember to click the “club” box and scroll way down to choose the “Speedster Owners” option when you buy. This is how the Carlisle poobahs take the club census and the more people we sign up the bigger our free canopy is.
The canopy is just what’s needed to keep everyone from becoming sunburned whist enjoying a cold one or three during the show.
So click on over and commit before January 2 to save 8 bucks, and also tell your friends and neighbors. More is better, and you don’t need a Speedster (or a TD or a Spyder) to show up and hang with us.
So Ed, which country are you going to favor this coming Carlisle?
Should we be thinking Pound Sterling or Deutsche Mark?
—Happy Jack
Euros, Francs…anything but Bitcoin.
My plan is to debut the Spyder but that was my plan last year too so let’s not be too hasty with the predictions.
OK fellas, time to book your rooms for Carlisle.
This is from the SoC site, posted last night by Alan Merklin, who made the arrangements:
<h1 class=”text-left”>2019 CARLISLE COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT HOTEL RESERVATIONS.</h1>It’s time to book your Hotel reservation for Carlisle 2019 ! The room block count @ 35 rooms per night for Thursday, Friday and Saturday . The room rate is $129.00 per night. You are encouraged to book your asap as hotels sell out quickly. Reservations: Call Hotel direct @ 717 477 0680 Be sure to mention Speedster Owners Group.
Courtyard by Marriott 503 Newburg Road Shippensburg, PA 17257
The Hotel is located one mile from Interstate 81 exit 29 Shippensburg
Group Name: Speedster Owners. Dates: May 16,17, 18 2019 Rate : $129.00 per night
Check in is 3:00 pm & Check out is 12:00 noon.
Room block cut off date: May 9, 2019 This hotel is a non smoking, no pets venue.__________________________________________________________________________________
Breakfasts:
Included in the room rate this year is a complimentary breakfast buffet for Friday AM. For Saturday & Sunday the Hotel will provide vouchers to be used at the Hotel Bistro for the complimentary breakfasts or you can elect to do the Carlisle Band Egg “Sammichs”
__________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday Dinner:
Thursday evening buffet style pork / chicken BBQ is at the Hotel, $25.00 pp includes tax and gratuity will be added to your room folio at time of room reservation. There is nothing else you need to do.
Included in the selected menu:
BBQ pulled pork, Boneless BBQ chicken breasts, Italian sausage w/ onions & pepper. BBQ baked beans, Mac and cheese, Potato salad, house salad, rolls, fresh baked cookies and ice tea w/ full cash bar
There is a full cash bar and you are welcome to bring your coolers. They are permitted in the hospitality room and on the large patio which seats 100 ppl and has a gas fire pit too !
Done.
All I need now is a car.
oh…
and good weather. Definitely need good weather.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Update on the hotel reservations for Carlisle. Some of the Speedster guys had trouble registering when they called the above number and were handed off to national reservations. Here’s what to do, via Alan Merklin who arranged the accommodations:
New phone number for hotel reservations 717 300 7026 Between 8am & 4pm you are making your reservation with Charity Shreffler Event Manager . Be sure to mention the Speedster Owner’s Group ! Do Not use their 800 number.
Audrey & I will be there Have our reservations made. 1 question do I get a hold of the speedster group for tickets & registration package.
Get your event pass (window sticker) Here:
http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle-events/carlisle-import-and-performance-nationals/default.aspx
I will be posting information regarding the Saturday dinner/banquet in a few days, and I’ll be collecting those checks.
Bill, will you and Audrey be bringing your car this year?
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"I wish I was but its no where done yet. I’ll tell you of my progress ( lack there of) when I see you
Looking forward to seeing you guys! Thinking about maybe doing the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix again this year.
that would be great. if we get enough of us to show up. I will do a big BBQ at my house we might be able to talk Billnparts to show up lets see who else is up to it
I’d love to, but we’ll have to see how things go this year. Carlise in May, Pagoda Hillclimb in June and August has both the Duryea Hillclimb and MINI’s on the Mack. We’ll have to discuss this at Carlisle.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"
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