Ventura Nationals 2015 - Sloppy's Revenge

The Ventura Nationals is a great excuse

to visit our second home town,

see old friends and get out of dodge.

This year we decided to take the green 40.

It was towed out of Ventura county in 2008,

time to break that curse.

We had to go through the car.

After 2 years of driving with very little re-tuning,

I didn't want to get stuck on the side of the freeway.

Jaxon began the wipe down.

A couple zip ties, 

shots with the grease gun 

and a few loose nuts...

The welded straight axle still holding up.

The suspension was good to go.

One continuing headache was belt squeal.

The bracket I had made was a little off.

A few enlarged holes solved the problem.

Two years and two belts later...

20 minutes of tinkering.

holey chit...

Was Chief sad or relieved 

to pass up this trip?

There'll be other drives.

The freeway cruise was smooth as could be.

We babied the first 40 miles,

and buzzed the remainder towards the halfway mark.

5 gallons at about 100 miles.

Not too shabby.

We met up with Sloppy,

sitting menacingly in the shadows.

Ready for the midnight haul.

Nope!

Sloppy's throttle cable broke a mile later.

Next thing I know the gas pedal is out.

A holey chit moment.

Since we had just cleaned the 40,

our tools were minimal,

and no random wires or paraphernalia.

I intentionally built our car to not need metric or star wrenches,

or special pliers or what not.

Fortunately Sloppy's tool bag was the exact opposite.

The perfect hodgepodge of tools we needed.

The clutch cable was removed 

from his motorized chopper bike,

but the crimped lead on the end was way too big.

If anyone sees a shiny spot on the concrete 

while visiting this death lair...

I used the concrete as a file 

to whittle down the stub.

Perfect fit.

Relieved to be back on the road,

the traffic-less drive was well deserved.

Fun side by siding a flathead roadster.

Now I know what we look like 

in the roadster pickup with one tail light.

The next project when we get home.

We barged in to Greg's abode 

with time for 3 hours of sleep.

I claimed the most bitchin couch.

So nice...

We woke up surprisingly rested.

A short rally and we headed off to the fairgrounds.

I'm sure every car at the show had a story to tell...

TP