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Sprite Week

To: spridgets <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Subject: Sprite Week
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 23:59:28 -0400
Organization: SpriteSpree 2003
User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20021120 Netscape/7.01
Yes, I spent a full week plus with Sprite Spree/Carlisle.
8 days and 6 hours total doing nothing but Spridget stuff :)
I started out last Sunday at 2pm heading to the airport to pick up John 
Sprinzel (4:45 eta from Hawaii) and Mike Gigante & Russel Cox with a 
5:15 eta from Australia. Both flights arrived on time. Back home to drop 
luggage, off to dinner only to realize it was also mother's day and the 
place was packed.
A few more drinks back at my place and a long evenings chat made way for 
a short night's sleep with a long drive in the morning.
4 LBCs, John Sprinzel driving the Red Midget
Mike in PIECES
Russel in the A40
Me in my Sprite.
Of course I was VERY ill in the morning and NOT hung over. Everyone 
agrees I had some bad mussels the night before. So after loosing dinner 
from both ends we did get started but about a 1/2 hour late.
Problem #1, my daughter calls my cell phone, I answer but can't hear a 
word she says while driving along at 65 mph in a top down Sprite.
She calls 3 more times, I can't hear her so I pull over to listen.
She tells me I left my suitcase on the deck. 7 days worth of clothes!!
I tell her I will by a new wardrobe at K-mart, I ain't turning 4 cars 
around at this point.

Problem #2...NJ turnpike, John Sprinzel pulls to the shoulder in a cloud 
of smoke. He lost oil pressure and shut it down. It turns out I blew a 
gasket where the oil filter assembly bolts to the block. A cracked split 
washer was the culprit. 1/2 of the washer must have fallen out, the nut 
backed off, the filter assembly wiggled loose causing the gasket to 
split making all the oil blow out of the engine. I backed up to the 
scene of the problem, Mike, Russel, John raise the bonnet, The site of 
the day had to be 4 guys looking around under the bonnet of an MG on the 
side of the NJ Turnpike and oil was dripping on all of us!
Once we found the problem, we removed the genny, dizzy, and filter 
assembly, siliconed it up, reassembled the engine, found 3.5 qts of oil 
in all the boots of the cars and continued on our way.

Problem #3, NJ pikke toll booth, I am leading, John pulls up behind me 
in MY sprite since he already broke the Midget, he didn't want to drive 
it anymore. I hear a very loud rattle coming from under my bonnet. Now I 
am in front of him and I hear this rattle. I turn around and ask if all 
was OK, he says " Why yes, This car is Brilliant!" Ok, pay our tolls and 
off we go. But that rattle has me thinking. Pick up the PA pike toll 
ticket and I still hear it. I pull into the first service area to make 
sure all 4 cars were still in good order. I notice the starter cable is 
still pulled OUT on my Sprite. Now I recognize what the rattle was.
John says oh there was a rattle but it went away. Yes, the starter 
turned to a nuclear waste like material by now. Push start it and all 
was OK once again.

Problem #4. Red Midget has oil blowing up the bonnet and on the 
windscreen from the oil leak. No more leak, just 4 qts of oil finding 
it's way out of the engine compartment up the bonnet onto the screen.
Not to mention a substansial amount of oil finding it's way onto the 
rubber floor mats. Now it starts to rain. Oily windshield, rain, wipers, 
need I say more?

Off the PA pike, thru small towns before Hershey and the Sprite brakes 
are lcoking up and not releasing. Sprinzel is driving, How come HE gets 
to have all the fun? So problem #5 had to wait til we arrived at the 
hotel. A quick adjustment of the pedal rod and all was OK once again.

As for Sprite Spree, read the other lister's posts, what can I say, it 
was a BLAST!!! If you missed it, don't blame me. I have been hawking 
this since 98.
The meet ends with a 45th anniversary party to a little car, including 
cake and goodbyes to old friends.

Now on to Carlisle Import Nationals and it's raining. What else is new?
As of this year Carlisle Import has been changed to the Carlisle SWAMP 
Meet! No I didn't make that up but it is definatly an appropriate name.
I am convinced that it is ALWAYS raining in Pencil Freaking RAIN ia!
It rained at Spritefest 88, I can't remember Sprite Bash 93, I know it 
rained for 3.5 days in 98, and now 3.5 days in 03. And it ALWAYS rains 
at Carlisle Import. 14 out of the 16 years I have attended anyway.
But if you like mud..............

Peter picked up a couple TONS of shock cores, I personally helped him 
load 100 shocks from one guy alone!! Last time I heard, he collected 
over 400 cores. And he sold alot of parts too so he's happy.

The ride home.....
This time only 3 cars, The A40 is still in Daniel Stapleton's hands and 
somewhere out in Pencil Freaking RAIN ia. He has it til Tuesday and is 
touring central PA with his wife and 2 kids. I will figure out someway 
of picking up the car in a week or 2, I am to frazzled to think about it 
just now.
Mike, Russel, and myself head east on the PA pike.
Red Midget pulls over, Russel says the oil pressure was getting low.
It needed a qt and it was fine. Maybe we should have checked it before 
we headed out ;) I mean a rally, autocross, auto test, drag race, and a 
few mass drives before a return trip. But it was just too wet to worry 
about that kind of stuff while we were trying to pack 3 Spridgets with 
way too much luggage and parts. A quick fix anyway.

OK now it's Mike's turn to pull over in PIECES, no power, he can't keep 
up with me. That damn gas cap caused a tank vacuum once again. I thought 
I fixed that. But Mike did once and forall. He cut the rubber sealing 
ring with a knife and once again, a 30 second fix and we were back on 
the road.
Made it home almost "on time" a few minutes to unload the LBCs into the 
BBC (Jaguar) and a quick bite to eat before a return trip to Newark 
airport to get the Aussys on a plane. I got home at 7:30 tonight only to 
pick up the ringing phone as I walked in the door. Work stuff, and he 
was coming over to talk about it...NO not just yet, I gotta unwind for 
30 minutes at least!!!! No such luck, it's almost midnight and here I am 
  just about to hit the send button.
What a week! I am tired, burnt out, have some work to do on a few LBCs, 
but very happy to have attended it all. I met some old friends, made 
some new friends, and will never forget this event.
Or maybe I will, after all, I forgot my luggage before I left home and I 
arrived back home a week later only to find out I forgot my cooler. 
Peter C calls me to tell me I left it on the table at Carlisle.
That cooler had my crabcakes in it! Crabcakes that only Biff's wife can 
make. The absolute BEST crabcakes I have ever had. MJ Jones makes 
crabcakes for me whenever Biff and I get together. Like I have been 
saying all week guys, "I'm Special" ;)
-- 
Frank Clarici
Toms River, NJ
5 British cars on the road
http://www.exit109.com/~spritenut

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