Gallery of Past Club Events
North American MGA Register GT-33
July 12-18, 2008
By Butch Smith
• 9 am, July 12th. Loaded up, topped off and wheels in the well. We're off! First stop the Marshalls. Then on to the Ludtkes in Winchester where Martha had iced tea, lemon aid and goodies for all. Meeting us there were the Farwells (1961 1600), Liz Ten Eyck's (1962 MKII) and Larry Newman (1960 16000. With the Marshalls' 1500 and my 1600, we had it covered. Needed a coupe.
Ominous start. Mr. Newman had the bonnet up when we pulled up to the Ludtkes. Hmmmm. Turned out to be something wrong with his alternator or battery. With technical support from Bill Ludtke and distilled water from Liz they got it going. No more problems, right? Next stop, Elkins, W.Va.!
Arthur Warren gave us a guided exit tour leaving Winchester. However, before we left town, Secret Agent Farwell pulls up with a locked left front brake caliper. On top of that Miss Liz forgot her purse at the Ludtkes. No problem. MJ ran it out to us while we tried to figure out what was wrong with the black beauty. Finally (and actually it was the only thing we could do in that situation) we bled the caliper to loosen it up and we were off again. Well, sort of. Larry N's 1600 started smelling funny again. What? Kinda like the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulfide gas. Seems his trusty battery was just a tad dry. We put some more H2O in it and off we go again. For a while.
You guessed it. Dickie boy's brakes again. Side of the road, bled the thing, and off we go … for 70 miles or so and then the same routine again. We had a nice lunch break in Wardensville, W.Va. and let our LBCs cool off.
Limping into Elkins we enjoyed a nice supper in town and had a great time at the new American Mountain Theater. Fashioned after something one would find in Branson, Mo. The entertainment was wonderful. Kinda like country, modern, '50s and '60s music and some really corny jokes. (Ask us about the "Toaster Man," and how to whisper).
• July 13th. On our way to Chalk, Pa., we ran into our only rain storm of the whole week. Once settled in the Lodge at Chalk Inn, Dick & Cheryl checked out the area and got us drinks, appetizers, while the rest of us went on to see Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" home. Amazing.
Of course, we were not finished with the "black cloud" over us. Yeah, bled Dick's caliper (again), filled up Larry's battery (again), and now Liz is skipping dinner to fix her headlamps. Bill M. and I kept wondering when it would be our turn to pull over. Thankfully, that never happened.
• 10 am, July 14th. Arrived in Seven Springs, Pa., all in one piece. Dick and I located some guy named John Wright, ran the brake problem by him and decided to try and fix it the next day. With help from John, Mike Eaton, Jonathan Eaton and Ron Eaton, the five of us got it fixed. The problem was either a frozen caliper piston that we cleaned up or the master cylinder front plate paper gasket. The consensus was to enlarge the hole a bit for some additional clearance of the brake MC piston. Seemed to work, and we all made it back home with no more "pullovers." Many thanks for the help and brains behind that fix-it.
Meanwhile, our most adventurous members, Keith and Kathy Kallapos, gave it a valiant try but came up a little short. They did all they could do to get his '57 ready to go. They got as far as the Ludtkes, and no mo. Generator gremlin. However, they did make the meet and we were very happy they did!
• July 18th. On our way home we stopped at the Ludtkes again and gave them a report on the GT. More hospitality and a good look and Keiths & Kathy's beautiful green MGA in the driveway.
Our chapter brought home some metal. The Farwells won 3rd place in the 1600 class, Liz received a nice acknowledgement for her beauty in the Premier Emeritus class, Mike Eaton won 3rd place in the Race Car class, while some old friends from Oregon (Steve and Nancy Woodyard, former chapter members) took 2nd place in the Race Car class, and Greg and LeAnn Eroe (former chapter members) took 2nd place in the Coupe class. Our chapter also tied the Michigan Rowdies for most attendees: 28.
GT-34? Hot Springs, Arkansas? Why not! After all we have Judy to get us there!
Editor's Note – All of us who caravanned to the GT-33 would like to thank Judy for taking on the role of being our wagon master for the trip. She once again did a perfect job of planning activities, hotels and keeping us on schedule. With her outstanding navigational skills and trusty, new GPS, we were always on course.
