M_C

Cheers, which pic was that as I don't know it?

The Gumboot part 2. The next mission was a race style group photo. Oh yeah a good excuse to get the escorts together! Twist that rubber arm. Apparently the EscortMafiaSubcommittee is a little “clikky” and so the moderns started to photo bomb us. I took these pictures intending to send up this guy as a ricer of dubious car taste and driving skills when attempting said photobomb he wiped out his chin in the ditch. But he turned out to be a good guy. This may or may not have had something to do with the prompt rescue of what could be construed as a poorly parked escort… It definitely has to do with his attractive passengers of the Cannonball run persuasion. And then the back roads continued, not many pics, too much fun. Pretty sure the engine is still there mate, I can here it from here... Then there was an awesome hill climb stage up Maungakawa rd to the top of where the heck are we hill in the back of nowhere. A minor navigational error had us turn right not left. I am sure Andy said the notes were wrong again and Bmac and Elliot were headed the wrong way. That's my story and I am sticking to it! Not all bad as we found another flowing twisty empty road to heaven we followed for 45min before realising it might not be the one we were supposed to be on... Cue furious map reading and cryptic route book deciphering to see where we could re-join the field. Outside Rotovagas in a hick character town complete with character locals ending up being a nice gathering point as the guys started arriving.

Assorted awesome Gumbooting shots from Christian Taylor Super shiny prebug splat look Game face on at the start line. You know you want to get it up Typical Gumboot back road heaven...

GumBoot rally part 1. What a most excellent weekend! If you like a back road drive you need to get some tickets for the next one! EscortMafiaSubcommittee gathered for a roll out under the over of darkness down to Raglan Friday night as a pre stage. Some neighbours did not seem to appreciate the arrival of classic vehicle connoisseurs at 10pm in the campground no matter that we were being as quite as we could and keeping Elliot off the grass. Ah well, they don't know what they are missing. Surprisingly unhungover dawn was quite damp. Not enough to dampen our spirits with what was to come Staging area for the start had a good variety of cars. Needs more injection of (OldSchool though.) Securing the mission packs, stickers and last minute pit stops we were ready. Le Mans style start was entertaining bringing out the competitive nature of some. DougD was so keen to get away he left his prized box of spares behind. It was Escort parts so I could not bare to see it left behind. Then quickly we were into driving nirvana with roads like this... With bonus tunnel for dort to camera guy. Weather quickly dried up and fuel was converted into smile factor 10 as we gathered at a mission stop.

GumBoot rally edition 3 was another Legendary weekend. Soooooooo good! Working on a classic fast ford take over...

Oh So Shiny!

More pics please? I do have a weakness for Escorts... Welcome

EscortMafiaSubcommittee headed over to Caffeine & Classics via OldSchool pre-meet. Big turn out and some cool cars. Lots of American muscle but variety of other stuff with good OldSchool turn out No that's not my green Mk1 one. I think Dave got asked a few times if was. Will be very cool to get them together once mine is re-engined. Geisha is tucked in the middle. Hmmmmmmmm boost is fun...

I a heading over in freshly shiny car. Seeing if I can put together a little EscortMafiaSubcommittee convoy. Any pre-meeting place happening, or roll straight in?

Assorted minor delays cumulating in a CarTyreTastorphe meant the Geisha did not make the OldScool Ellerslie meet. Tyre Busters sorted out some great tyres and while the profile was slightly different 205/50/16 vs 205/45/16 meaning about a 12mm difference should be fine I figured, yeah right... Rolling back off the alignment machine my freshly painted guard was traumatised! Nooooooooo! Order was restored the next day and guard massaged back into shape. Now she is Super Shiny! Looking forward to GumBoot next weekend and will head out to Caffeine and Classics to make the most of the new polish.

Getting tools on car made thoughts start to turn and I wondered if maybe the mystery package shouty pinto may just start without extensive rebuild... So with the supervision of my nephew we checked it over. New sump is needed. I wonder what sort of story this would tell if it could talk. I think it would likely involve a brown trouser moment. The list is not too long for bench start. Somewhat surprisingly its still on points and they look shagged. Shaneo has donated a sump. My small collection of alternators do not fit so will sort something out. Bolt gearbox to back and maybe swap out monster sidies for known good carb. Even got so keen I bolted together the second pinto to stave off the rust demons and make sure all bits were present.

So been a while... Got a bit distracted with Geisha while Felicity has been collecting dust in storage. Nothing too exciting, just pulling borrowed gearbox to return to mate. Worth a quick snap though.

Decided to get a few bits and pieces tidied up. Starting to miss driving so looking forward to getting her back next week all shiny.

I work in Wiri so fine for me, seems you have a queue already though.

On the way home from the drags the usually rock steady water temp went up and volts down, Hmm that’s not good. A quick pull over revealed the alternator belt had split longitudinally and been spat off. Luckily it was only 3km from home as it was the evening of my wedding anniversary and my quick fixes did not work. Spare old belt was a touch short after engine mounts had been adjusted. Arg. My lovely wife came to my inglorious rescue and the evening’s entertainment continued as planned. Pic is of inglorious rescue not evening’s entertainment… New belt procured and easy fix I think. Hmmmmmm, why does the pulley alignment look out by lots…? Oh, Geisha has managed to invent a two piece crank pulley. That may not work so well. Thanks to Kurt for a replacement crank pulley, now I just had to get the old one off… Various methods of persuasion were tried in an escalating warfare until the front end was empty and the crank pulley bolt finally conceded to a 1/2” impact driver plugged into 100psi. Muchas Gracias Paul. Reassembly now underway as Leadfoot excitement in building.

Another awesome weekend courtesy of the OldSchool crew organizing a great Xmas Drags day. Bonnets up for pre run sledging in the Excort SubCommittee. Jeff, you may want to get Mel to do that side of your car too… Stu’s sister made my car look shiny shiny! Who parked a blimmin Holden in the Escort parking? Ah well, it can almost be forgiven as it was a V8 and towing the minty silver Escort. I will admit to a few butterflies playing before the first run down the strip. Hmmm, wonder how this is going to end? 1600cc of force fed fake BDA vs Thom’s tunnelrammed 302 cubes. Pretty happy to run a 14.65 at 99mph on the lowest boost and first time ever on the strip. What a great day!

Whatever the spec it does enjoy a good roundabout I noticed this avo...

What a day! Epic. Big thanks to Amy, Karl, their Dad and anyone else who helped organise it. And a Super Big Thank You to Rod for opening the gates and hosting us. A real privilege. If I was going to do a money no object property it would be pretty much as his ranch! Great to see a Kiwi boy who has done so well and worked so hard to create it. A little foot note, to the OldSchooler in the black Porsche: If you enjoyed the run back over the hill you Really need to do the Gumboot as its that supersized on better roads.

Got out on the OldSchool pre-Leadfoot run. Was EPIC! Big Thank You to Amy, Karl, their Dad and anyone else to helped organise. Super Big Thank You to Rod for opening his doors and hosting us. A real privilege. If I was going to do a money no object property it would be pretty much as his ranch! Great to see a Kiwi boy who has done so well and worked so hard to create it. Convoy re-grouping in Kawakawa Bay. Waaaaaaa, my girl won’t let me drive my beautiful 240Z properly in the twisty bits… Come here for a hug mate, its still an awesome car with bonus spark creating exhaust. Good thing we gathered on the sealed area first and the grass was green. Hot cars some with low clearance may not be good mix on long grass. So much awesomeness in this shed… I hope Rod didn’t have too much drool to wipe off. Got to run Geisha up the legendary driveway. Wow. Respect to the drivers in the hill climb! Not a bad back yard at all… Unfortunately the gearbox did not appreciate the run home quite so much. 4th and 5th are unhappy when selecting so box will have to be split again. Wish I had found the rebuild kit before it was put back together 2 weeks ago.

Hmmmm... The thought did cross my mind, but I would hate to see Doug cry when another one went awol.

I like my forecast site that says it looks Good. Bit worried I have not been rushing around fettling my car. Seems odd after last few outings were missions to get ready for...? Looking forward to the run!

Was looking mint till I got to the third and forth pictures... Boats like OldSchool cars can never be justified by accountants, only by the passion and enjoyment derived from them. If you can fix cars then woodwork and fibreglass won't be too hard for you. Saying that I don't miss the maintenance on my boat and sail with Dad instead.

So this little rough gem arrived today for me to store. She was somewhat underappreciated by females and non connoisseurs of fine classic vehicles... Even my lovely tolerant wife was somewhat less than impressed when it arrived at home. Storage of car, $50 per week Storage of car to hide it from wife as you have not told her about it yet, $ 250 per week Winding DougD up mercilessly, Priceless...

Just because there are not enough Escort pics in this thread. (Thanks Escort74 for nice phone camera much better than mine.) Hmmmmmmmmm, much like for Thom's toy... Hey, where did everyone else go? I guess the EscortSubCommittee spent a bit of time in the pub.

Gearbox sorted, shall at last be rolling my own OldSchool ride this.