Month for Bonnets

It’s a scorcher our there folks.  Time to tighten down your bonnet. At last writing it was rain. Now if there was some way to drop the temp a few degrees we’d all be enjoying our British cars. With the temp approaching the 100 degree range + the humidity it’s much to hot to do anything for any length of time over about 30 minutes. It’s taking me days to tune up Ole Red, working at it a little here and a little there and lots of water.

During July the in crowd was dealing with bonnets of the Jaguar type. The first of the month Keith Anderson and Dennis Loftin wandered over for a removal session on Pat and Barbara Cashman’s 420. Pat’s located a vendor that will assist with rebuilding the AC unit so a removal session was in order. Here are Keith’s notes from the weekend.

Almost every Saturday Dennis, Gene and I eat an early breakfast at Primos Restaurant with a few other car guys. You can tell when we are there from all the old shiny cars parked in a line across the front. This past Saturday after we finished eating, Dennis and I headed over to Vicksburg to help Pat Cashman with a project.

Pat needed some assistance removing the bonnet from his 1967 Jaguar 420 sedan so that he could pull out the A/C condenser. He also intends to remove the evaporator, which we found to be installed in boot so that it blows all the cold air onto the rear passengers. Then all the A/C lines will be removed and everything will be sent to an expert to be replicated and then the replacements will be installed. Pat already has the new compressor in place. He had already worked up a good sweat by 8:30 AM so Dennis and I played it smart and got out of there after we removed the bonnet, which was definitely a 3 bloke task.

Then Dennis and I headed over to Clinton to help Wayne Derrick tune the SU HS4 carbs on his beautiful 1967 Volvo P18000 coupe. He had just rebuilt the engine and it was running really strong. Wayne also has a well-restored white 1971 Volvo P1800 coupe with fuel injection that runs great. We found it interesting that along with the SU carbs and the Lucas lights and electrics, Wayne tells us that all the body panels were stamped in England and the cars were assembled there. So we gave him an application for the EMC and he’ll be joining us with his Swedish/British iron.

We had considered spending the afternoon helping John Turbeville with some British car issues that he had called about a few weeks ago. But John was smart enough to spend the hot July weekend white-water rafting down the French Broad River instead. Now why didn’t I think of that?

While Keith and Dennis were out Ramplin’ about Brother Clay and I made our second trip of the month to Barber Motorsports Park for the Rolex Porsche 250 race. I think the only thing hotter than Mississippi was in Alabama. A little far to drive in our LBC in the heat. We had a great time visiting with members of the BBMC in their section of the car coral and stopping in for a steak with Tom Warren on Saturday evening. However to reiterate, IT WAS HOT!

Bonnet of another type

A couple of weeks following the bonnet removal at Pat’s several members of the EMCC, Early Morning Car Club traveled over to Dennis’ place to re-install the bonnet on his E-type. I kept waiting for him to show up at breakfast one Saturday with cycle fenders to tell you the truth. We started in the cool morning. Dropping the hood in place was the easy part. Alignment was another story. With manual in hand we must have been quite a sight, five grown men scratching, squinting and mumbling about how we knew the darn thing use to fit. An hour or two into it and the temp and level of frustration on the rise we all retreated and agreed that we’ll return to this issue on a future date. Maybe cycle fenders aren’t too bad an idea.

We’re always looking for submissions so, tell us about what you’ve done on your summer vacation. It doesn’t have to be automotive based. Life lessons and general musings are always acceptable.

If you’ve been missing the monthly e-mails please get in touch with me. I've been getting some bounces on the outgoing. We want you to be updated and involved.

Here’s the upcoming calendar - note there’s been an addition on September 1, 2007.

August 18, 2007 - Tech Session II / Brandon MS

We had such a good time in 2006 that Barry and Patti Schmidt invited us back. This is our last club gathering prior to Brit’s By The River. We’re looking for all hands to assist with the planning for the 2007 show. Make plans to be there with your suggestions and assistance.  Barry’s cooking and providing some beverages so we’re just looking for add-ons.  Gathering begins at 11:00am and there’ll be a meal about 12:00pm.  Details: Barry or Patti Schmidt (601) 992-9196

September 1, 2007 - Day Tripper / Laurel MS

Grow up in the 60's? Martha’s putting together this trip to the Lauren Rodgers Museum in Laurel. The museum has an exhibition of 50 rock and roll photos taken by Linda Eastman - McCartney. The plan is to leave the Jackson area about 9:00am, travel to Laurel for the show and lunch before breaking up. For more information visit: www.lrma.org  If it’s as hot as it is today no, I won’t be going in my LBC...shucks!  Details: Martha Johnston (601) 607-7021

September 28-29, 2007 - EMC Brits By The River / Vidalia LA

The EMC will be kicking off the Fall Car Show again for 2007.   2006 was a banner year with a strong turnout and it looks bigger and better in 2007. Please note that rooms are tight so if you haven’t made reservations yet you’d better do it today!  Plans are being made so jump in a join the fun. Additional information including hotel info and a registration form can be found at our web site: www.msemc.org.  Details: John Turbeville (601) 940-5288. Gene Johnston (601) 607-7021

That does it for this edition of the Off-Side Undo. Enough with the heat already!

Happy Motoring!

Gene