Sunday drivin' - 2011 August 14

[Sean]

Figured this could use it's own thread.
Morgan - Might just be us, but that's alright with me. I blocked out the day for the drive, so I'm going driving one way or another.

[Doug Liedblad]

If you are up to the drive to SCS I will join you but must be back by 11 AM.

[mopho]

Meeting at SCS at 8:30am

Westfield Promenade Mall
6100 Topanga Canyon Boulevard
Woodland Hills, CA 91367

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=6100+Topanga+Canyon+Boulevard&sll=34.181844,-118.602895&sspn=0.006453,0.008647&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=6100+Topanga+Canyon+Blvd,+Los+Angeles,+California+91367&view=map&ll=34.18227,-118.605309&spn=0.033727,0.047121&z=14&iwloc=A

.

[Sean]

I put it in the GPS.
Going to drink that beer I stole from Doug's trailer at the end of the dyno day now, and then go to sleep. See you tomorrow.

[prabjohns]

Wish I could join you, especially now my car is running so well!
I will have to catch you guys on the next one.
have fun! Sean, It was a pleasure to meet you, great car you have there.
-Paul

[slomove]

Wish I could join you, especially now my car is running so well!
I will have to catch you guys on the next one.
have fun! Sean, It was a pleasure to meet you, great car you have there.
-Paul

So how did that go with the engine mapping? I forgot to tell Magnus how to change the injection map resolution in the Emerald software but it looks like he improved it, anyway.

[Sean]

Fantastic drive on Sunday. I had a great time, but then my return trip on Monday was good, too. Google Maps showed little traffic at 6:00 a.m. when my host was leaving for work, so I also left then, and hit just a little traffic going North on 57 and West on 210 to 101. Breakfast and gas in Agoura Hills/Westlake Village, and then a leisurely drive North to SLO for a light lunch and a Guinness. Saw the sign for Highway 1, and had no choice, really. Friggin' epic drive, and a great end to an already great weekend.

Getting near Big Sur, the car feels a little strange. Pull over, and nothing apparent, so press on more cautiously than before. Approaching Carmel, and clearly the rear end is wobbly at the right rear. I turn off PCH to go 60 yards up to the first gas station, and my brother just happens to pull up next to me, going in the opposite direction. We look the car over, and what used to be the bearings in the R/R hub are severely grinding metal-on-metal. Bro lives a half-mile away, so I slowly drive it there and call the wife to tell her what's up.

Next morning, call work, send e-mails to Caterham, and walk to downtown Carmel to get a newspaper and breakfast. Tow trucks everywhere, towing cars from the ubiquitous no parking zones all over the town that morning for the Carmel Concours on the Avenue event, which I had forgotten about entirely. It's a free show, so we wander around and check it out. Call triple-A, and as expected, flatbed tow trucks are all busy, so we spend about 90 minutes checking out the show. After seeing everything, we walk back to the car, and the tow company calls to tell us the flatbed will arrive in about fifteen minutes - just enough time to get my stuff together.

Dang, it was just one of those days where everything worked out. I'll attach some photos later.

~~~

Stop at roadside to stretch legs:


Looking back at the section of road driven over the last hour or so:


Buttoned up for the night on the side of the road in Carmel:



Carmel Concours on the Avenue

Unusual coachwork (3 photos):






Hot Rods (2 photos):




Honda:


Toyota:


Morgan:


And finally, a Rolls, just parked on the street (not part of the show - sights like this are common):

[Mondo]

I broke down twice, out in the boonies, but made it to a fire station the first time & about an 1/8th mile away from another fire station the second time. Being a retired FF, they made me feel at home and were very helpful...

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

[slomove]

Getting near Big Sur, the car feels a little strange. Pull over, and nothing apparent, so press on more cautiously than before. Approaching Carmel, and clearly the rear end is wobbly at the right rear. I turn off PCH to go 60 yards up to the first gas station, and my brother just happens to pull up next to me, going in the opposite direction. We look the car over, and what used to be the bearings in the R/R hub are severely grinding metal-on-metal.

That must be the area. You may remember last year Tom Meacham ground his rear wheel bearings to pieces near Laguna Seca. Or maybe you have a rear axle of the same vintage? IIRC it was mis-machined ears or something.

[mopho]

Founds some pics on the intArwebs

[Sean]

So that's what that grinding noise was... :eek:

[escondidoron]

Wow, bummer about that bearing gone bad Sean. Good thing that you had a nearby support network.

I got to thinking about this thread tonight. About great drives in a Seven. About the allure of the Seven experience in general. I was driving across Rancho Santa Fe, A nice semi-rural neighborhood on the north side of San Diego, on my way home from a wonderful dinner at one of our costal eateries with a friend of mine who is visiting from Belgium. I was driving our family car, a Volvo V50 T5, enjoying the satellite radio and the very well maintained winding roads through the costal hills when an old song by the Dave Clark Five came on. I cranked up the volume and gradually increased the tempo of my drive along the deserted lane. Very enjoyable.

The song has a driving bass line and the staccato phrasing reinforces the lyrics, which go something like this:

"you say that you love (say you love me)
all of the time (all of the time)
you say that you need me (say you need me)
you'll always be mine (always be mine)"

chorus:
"i'm feelin' - glad all over
yes i'm glad all over
baby i'm glad all over
so glad you're mine"

And I started to think back 24 hours, to the night before, when I had made the same drive in the Seven. I started to make some mental comparisons between the drives:

In the Seven, the sounds from the exhaust make the concept of a radio foreign, to say the least. Also, any occasional road surface imperfections, cause the stiffly sprung live rear axle to chatter about like a couple of middle eastern women who have just lost a loved one in the latest jihad.

In the Volvo, the speeds may be similar, if not even a little bit faster, but the bumps are soaked up without so much as a moment's notice. So composed and serene. Ahh, progress, I thought to myself.

And I reached over to crank up the volume on the stereo as the next verse came into focus:

"i'll make you happy (make you happy)
you'll never be blue (never be blue)
you'll have no sorrow (have no sorrow)b'coz i'll always be true (always be true)

and i'm feelin' - glad all over
yes i'm glad all over
baby i'm glad all over
so glad you're mine"

Yeah, I thought to myself, the Seven is elemental, but the Volvo (and many others) are just so much more civilized. We've come a long way in automotive development over the past 50 years since Colin and the lads sat at the dining room table after a Sunday lunch and conceived the original Seven so many years ago.

So why do I love taking the Seven out for a spirited drive?

"all the girls they try to take me away (take me away)
but you know it's by your side i will stay
i i will stay
till the end of time now (end of time)
because it's love now (because it's love)
it's only yours and mine (yours and mine)"

As the final stanza of the song commenced, it all came into clear focus, it all became so apparent. Comparing the back to back drives, the 1962 Seven vs the modern transportation appliance. All the new cars, they try to take me away. But the pure joy of the Seven is stronger than ever. The connection between man, machine and road surface is undiluted and absolute in the Seven.

"you say that you love (say you love me)
all of the time (all of the time)
you say that you need me (say you need me)
you'll always be mine (always be mine)"

"so glad your mine now
so glad your mine now
so glad your mine now"

I'm not sure who owns whom. Do I own the car or does the car own a piece of my soul? I think it doesn't matter. It's the road. The drive. The experience.

Crank it up!

[sevenhead]

Well said E-Ron. This will date me but when the DC5 came out I was playing the alto sax. This was one of the songs that I tried to play - not very successfully.

How do you like the intake noise now that you have a brace of Webers on the car?

[escondidoron]

Well said E-Ron. This will date me but when the DC5 came out I was playing the alto sax. This was one of the songs that I tried to play - not very successfully.

How do you like the intake noise now that you have a brace of Webers on the car?

I love the intake roar / valve noise combo.

As for the DC5, it dates me as well. :)

[Sean]

Clearing out some old photos, and found this one: