Today was the big day. We latched up the same rental trailer I used last
year to pick up the bugeye in Simi Valley last year and headed to Oakland to
pick up the Traveller. My friend driving the truck, my younger daughter
knitting away in the middle and me sneezing with a cold, we got near the
warehouse by the Oakland Coleseum only to discover the Raider game would
start in a few minutes. The smell of the tailgate barbecues was great even
with a stuffed up nose. Large chunks of meat searing over the coals, and us
stuck in traffic with no lunch, aaaarrrgggh! Goodyear blimp is circling
overhead and we're cruising surface streets in the crack capital of the bay
area.
About ten blocks later we're at the warehouse to pick up the Traveller.
This guy's place is amazing. He has, and I saw, as best I could considering
the packed conditions and poor lighting, the following: nine(9!) 100-4s,
several 3000s, two bugeyes, two MGA coupes, Morris Minor
TR4(1) TR2(1 for sure, possibly more), TR3s (at least 3), Spitfire(1)
Unsure on the classification of the TR stuff, my eyes just jump over them.
Sorry
Piles of parts up the wazoo for all of the above. All UOS parts. Thats Used
Old S*** as opposed to NOS.
Half an hour later its loaded up, and off we go for Davis. We barely got
two blocks before a car pulled alongside and the passenger yelled "Cool
car!" and gave thumbs up. My buddy insisted he must have meant his Jeep
truck tow vehicle. Sure
By now, all the Raider fans and their POs were enjoying the game and we had
an easy trip back to town. The Traveller is safe in the garage, my wife has
looked it over and agreed to its potential, and it has even started its
first little puddle of leaked fluid on the floor. Pause for tear
dabbing.......A quick once over tells me it should be on the road by
Christmas and on its way to looking pretty passable.
It seems it might have been a "supply" vehicle for a bay area band. All
sorts of tree-hugging-love your-Mother-Earth-Peace stickers inside the rear
doors, a UCSB parking sticker, the orange paint job, and the license plate
UNKLFUD. I can't wait to see what I find under the floor mats besides rust.
The torched off spridget front end he threw into the deal seems to be from a
racer. The upgrade springs, 7/16 wheel studs, tube shock conversion, and a
heavier than stock swaybar. Nice little bit of frosting for the cake, a
full front end upgrade for the bugeye. Since I just finished switching to
7/16 studs on my hubs, these are available gratis to anyone who needs/wants
them.
Regards,
Glen Byrns
'59 Bugeye
'59 Morris Traveller (termite retirement home)
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