Opel GT Forums Time Line

tldr; Congratz!!!! I got way more wrapped up in this than made any sense. I donʹt even own an Opel yet and there I was at work this morning hitting refresh every 5m.

Our friends in the forums suggested this, and after rereading it all I was really touched, plus all along the route I never how closely people were following us, cheering for us. So here it is, with their permission and real names replacing Internet handles when allowed, is that version of the story.

07‐12‐2017, Mike Meier Horrible Idea.

A Cannonball Run in the Tinyvette. Lemons class, Lemons spec, Lemons fame and fortune, meaning none of either.

Iʹd need a co‐pilot. Weʹd drive night and day, eat while we drive, maybe pee while we drive, too.

Iʹd have to install a passenger seat and Iʹd want to modify the fuel tank to get us another 10 gallons or so, something Iʹm planning to do anyway.

Weʹd each have cooled seats, but no windows other than the windshield.

Our goal would be to beat Christoph Strasserʹs time of eight days, nine hours and 34 minutes, which he did on a bicycle.

Horrible idea.

I donʹt know why, but I must do this.

07‐12‐2017, GTRoy Mike, I was more up to something like this 30 years ago, but then I was working 5 out of 7.

Youʹre not an astronaut, pee at fuel stops! Well thatʹs what I do on

69 long trips.

My quickest cross‐country driving alone was Roanoke Va to Concord CA in 72 hours. That was when speed limits were 55, and I stopped for dinner with friends in OKC. For rest I napped in the car for a few hours at night.

I am headed out before end of July for a 10,000 ‐ 12,000 road trip, but I will sleep in a bed most nights, could be light training for Cannonball Run. Ha Ha

What are start and finish points ? When will you do it ? I wonʹt ask Why?

07‐12‐2017, kwschumm The Tinyvette sort of sticks out in traffic (understatement obviously), good luck with smoky!

07‐12‐2017, clayc I’ve heard worse ideas. In all honesty, I would do this. Sounds like an experience you would NEVER forget. In fact, when my GT is finished, I mean ready, I plan to take a long trip in it, staying in hotels though, and yes, peeing at stops. So, go for it. You can do it. All the cool kids are doing it. LOL

07‐12‐2017, Mike Meier I might be sick, and I know doing this is the cure.

I figure ship the car to Gordonʹs or some place clos‐ish to NYC. Leave NYC at dawn to see if I can beat traffic. Give me a week to get to LA, or wherever the destination is supposed to be.

Hotel costs, minimal to none.

Food, about average.

Fuel, at 30 mpg, 3,000 miles, $4 per gallon, round numbers, thatʹs 100 gallons, $400. Seems low. Anyway, itʹs affordable.

Shipping the car, air fare, etc will add to the cost.

I wonder if I could live stream this? I should check with the

70 RaceCast.me folks.

I might make a few mods to improve gas mileage, like fully inflated tires, Weber 32/36 instead of DCOEs, might consider putting the side and rear windows back in. With a 20 gallon tank we should be able to go for 600 miles between stops, not having to refuels more than twice a day.

The big question, how to sleep in a moving Opel GT that has a roll cage?

07‐12‐2017, Mike Meier The route begins at the Red Ball Garage on East 31st Street in New York City, usually after midnight, and ends at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. Those were the only rules. Other than the start and finish, there is no official route.

07‐12‐2017, Autoholic Hey Mike,

Are you aware of the 32 Hours and & 7 Minutes documentary? It follows a rather well known Gumballer in a rather well known BMW, who ended up doing this run. He also wrote a book about it. The guyʹs name is Alex Roy. If you really want to do this, I would suggest you reach out to him for some tips. He even had a spotter plane for a good deal of the trip. Dude was all in. His book The Driver is a really good read, if you shoot me a PM with your email I can send you a PDF of it, if I can dig it up.

Part of me, is crazy enough to want to do this. Then the sane part of me tells me this a good way to wind up behind bars. Are you planning on staying around the speed limit or are you playing by the donʹt ask, donʹt tell rule? A yellow Opel GT, that is about as noticeable as a yellow Ferrari or Lamborghini. Speeding could be bad if people call in. I can hear the calls to 911 now... ʺYes operator, Iʹd like to report a yellow Corvette doing 120 down I‐50.ʺ and then the completely ignorant calls... ʺHey, I jusʹ saw a yellow Ferrari doing a buck 50 out here by Innerstate 40ʺ.

Oh, I would recommend not live streaming this. The possible legalities behind that one, kinda scares me. Iʹd release the footage after the fact, the last thing you want to do is broadcast this to the

71 whole world for every cop that pays attention to social media, to pick up on. And possibly hone in on, making any counter measures ineffective if they were watching right before hitting the lights. Live streaming this, would make Drive Tribe, Facebook, Twitter, Speedhunters, Speed Society and Jalopnik to name a few. With that said, if you really want to live stream this, I would bet Speedhunters or Speed Society would foot any bills for sponsorship rights.

On the road, around the clock, you can do over 1,000 miles in 24 hours without excessive speeding (like maybe 5 over). Iʹve done New Mexico to Minnesota non‐stop with a co‐driver, took us about 22‐23 hours to go from Albuquerque to Minneapolis. This is with stops for fuel, restrooms, and food. I donʹt see why the Cannonball canʹt be done in under 3 days. Sleeping in a race car... that might be hard to pull off. Passenger seat would need to recline. And it would need side windows. No way are you going to get any sort of meaningful sleep with 50+ MPH wind in your face. Only other option would be to stop to sleep, so hammocks somewhere.

07‐12‐2017, First opel 1981 47 hours in a 73 Pinto, including having to stop for about 6 hours to get a new battery in Ogden Utah. The route was Portland Oregon to Springfield Ohio. 2400 miles. My girlfriend drove for about an hour. I drove the rest. I donʹt know if I ever stopped to pee. I did slow down a little to hang my socks out the window because the heat from the floorboard baked my feet and made a HORRIBLE stink. LOL

Didnʹt have a speedo in the Pinto. I managed to get the speedo to work for about 10 seconds and it read over 80. We figured that was about the average speed.

EIGHT DAYS?!!! Piece of cake. (yes, I know youʹd do it in two)

BTW, night time in the plains, no popo. Anywhere from Iowa to Salt Lake, if itʹs dark, just watch out for deer and rabbits. I think you could probably do 100 in Wyoming, even during the day.

07‐12‐2017, Mike Meier Iʹd keep it within 5‐10 mph of the speed limit and/or go with the flow of traffic. If I fall in with a bunch of trucks doing 90, that works for me, too. But 100 or above for long periods of time, probably not.

72 Iʹll have my Valentine‐1 with me, and maybe a CB radio.

Sleep will be a problem. Iʹve had three experience with sleep‐driving in the past few years. Itʹs not a matter of your eyes closing and nodding off. Instead, eyes wide open and seeing everything, but the part of the brain in charge has checked out and isnʹt involved in the driving anymore. Itʹs weird, and insidious. You do all you can to stay alert but any random thought that enters your brain becomes a dream that drags the command center off with it.

I also know, from our 24 hour races, plus all‐nighters getting ready for a race, that just an hour or so of sleep can make a big difference, so I wouldnʹt be against pulling over and napping next to the car for an hour or so.

I know about the movie. I have to find it and watch it. The book would be interesting, too.

07‐12‐2017, Autoholic Quote: CB radio...

This would be a good idea. Could talk to truckers about what is up with road conditions. Not a must have though.

Quote: sleep‐driving...

You do all you can to stay alert but any random thought that enters your brain becomes a dream that drags the command center off with it.

Yep, this can be kinda scary. I used to drive from Albuquerque to Socorro a lot, back when I was going to school at NMT. Itʹs only about 80 miles, but itʹs some of the most boring 80 miles out there. I think only the corn fields of the mid‐west to northwest are more boring. Not too many curves or hills between the two cities. There is a lot of rural houses and what not, so itʹs not like youʹre driving through a deserted waste land. But for me, it just got too dang boring. I have a problem sleeping, and it could put me to sleep. Iʹm always a little afraid that Iʹll pass out now whenever I drive back to Socorro to visit. An unknown straight road, I can last a lot longer on because I donʹt know it. For these specific 80 miles though, my brain can go into autopilot and that is dangerous. And itʹs not like the

73 vehicle I was driving was boring either, I used to daily a 2014 Mustang GT. I could punch it to 100 before I knew how fast I was going.

Quote: ... just an hour or so of sleep...

Back when I was in college, my room mate and our friends would often stay up till like 4 AM. Often, while working on homework (usually a paper), Iʹd get tired around 12 AM. So Iʹd climb into bed, fully clothed, and take an hour to an hour and a half nap. I canʹt sleep forever fully clothed (minus socks and shoes), so I could take a nap at midnight and wake up roughly an hour later, and go for another 2 or 3 hours before getting tired again. I can work functionally for 16 to 18 hours, on 4 hours of sleep. I prefer 6 hours. My room mate that year couldnʹt believe I could take a nap, at midnight.

07‐12‐2017, First opel 1981 Mike, Itʹs interesting that you mentioned the sleep driving. The trip in the Pinto I experienced that for the first and LAST time. I had taken caffeine pills for the first time and found out they donʹt, necessarily, work.

I remember the last thing I saw and the next thing I saw and they were a couple hours apart. Itʹs like blacking out from drinking only, no drinking. It was VERY difficult to get the cognizant part of my brain working again and I really needed to because I was coming into Lincoln Nebraska rush hour.

If I had to guess, I would say I was ʺoutʺ for 3 hours. Luckily that part of Nebraska was pretty much straight and the bias tires on the Pinto tracked the freeway really well.

I suggest that nobody ever try it.

FWIW, that trip, in the morning we counted six vehicles that had gone off the road the night before. Four were semi trucks.

07‐12‐2017, Autoholic While it is dangerous, I think sleep driving is pretty much autopilot. Your eyes end up seeing a replay, so your brain gets hypnotized and it goes into auto. It would be interesting to conduct a formal study into sleep driving, and see if a somewhat sudden change in the

74 surrounding environment snaps you out of it. You snapped out of it as you were starting to encounter heavy traffic. To me, it would make sense that a strong enough visual change would end the cycle.

A buddy of mine from the college I went to, he fell asleep on this road (I‐25) between Abq and Socorro. He wound up flipping his car, end over end. He was traveling in the left lane, and started to doze off. The car went towards the median and the rubble strip woke him up. He made a very rookie mistake, and jerked the vehicle to the right. At 75‐80 MPH, that will trip a vehicle as the tire will grab and try to stop the car on a dime, which isnʹt possible. Somewhat scary was that the airbags didnʹt go off, and yet all he had was a scratch on his hand. Bloody lucky, it scared the crap out of him though. The car was a mangled wreck that somehow didnʹt kill him.

07‐12‐2017, tealcarver Mike, good luck on your adventure, donʹt doing anything that will get you hurt. There isnʹt enough words to express this. I guess you have to know your limits, your brain is telling you something and you had better listen. Besides I had the SKY at Gils, and want to bring the GT for the next Opel gathering. So you have to be there and in good shape.

07‐12‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: While it is dangerous, I think sleep driving...

True sleep driving is the same mechanism as sleep walking, sleep talking and even sleep sex. There have been many cases of people taking Ambien and falling asleep, then while in a sleep state they actually drive to someplace. Work or a store or a friends house were the stories I remembered.

Iʹm lucky enough to have a special brain (so does my younger son) where we typically wake up and can do something, cognitively, and then not remember in the morning that we ever did it. These arenʹt simple things like sleep walking mindlessly. These are complex things that might be continuing a project or whatever. The only wan I knew HE did it is I watched him and had a full conversation with him, many times, and he had no memory of it the next day. For me, I leave something to signal myself in the morning.

As said above. Know your limit and stop driving. Iʹve also had

75 friends wreck their car falling asleep at the wheel. None died, luckily.

07‐13‐2017, Autoholic Rather off topic, but you just made me think of an amazing movie plot. Sleep murder. Damn could that become very complicated. Or something along those lines. Imagine sleep driving, and you accidentally killed someone. Then went home, went to bed and woke up not having a clue as to why your car was badly damaged.

07‐13‐2017, Timbo We got pretty good at making the 800 mile trip from Ohio to MA in 10‐12 hours. We is my wife and I. She used to be able to make time. We learned to change drivers every HOUR. The rest areas on the interstates tend to be one hour apart. The difference in fatigue at the end was noticeable compared to driving till you got tired. Incidents of us both being asleep went away.

I can always tell when she is getting tired. She starts doing this strange exaggerated movements with her arms. When that starts her driving performance starts going down hill fast. When I see that, it is time to switch drivers.

We are realizing that our ability to make those drives is going away. She struggled last weekend returning from a visit to Mom. We hit a heavy rain storm and it wasnʹt long before the arm thing started.

And finally, the last blow is failing eyesight at night. My wife really canʹt drive at night and forget it if it is raining. The warning about deer at night is also valid. That is why we donʹt like to drive through the night anymore.

But if I was retired, I think it would be an adventure. If I didnʹt drink any liquids, Iʹd be ok with no pee breaks.

07‐13‐2017, Michael A. Smith As George Burns said about dying, ʺWhy die ‐‐ itʹs been done.ʺ Once the original Cannonball Baker Sea‐to‐Shining‐Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was run and documented in Car & Driver by its founder, the late Brock Yates, everything after that, including subsequent dashes organized by Yates, were kind of, well, boring.

07‐13‐2017, markandson

76 Quote: Iʹd keep it within 5‐10 mph of the speed limit...

Mike, add WAZE to the equation, itʹs a great app.

My right foot is like lead on long trips and with my wife running WAZE on her phone and my Escort 360 we do very well.

07‐13‐2017, The Scifi Guy I have had to drive out to Norman, Oklahoma about 10 times and one time I continued from there to LA. Itʹs 27 hours of driving behind tractor trailers from basically Phila., PA to Norman, OK. 1250 miles, I think. I drive 12 hours a day from 6‐6 or 8‐8 depending on when it gets dark. There are no highway lights out in the middle of nowhere and old eyes are challenged. Thank golly for speed control. Having to monitor your speed with a carbed, jacked up, car for that whole distance will also be a challenge. Bring A LOT of CDʹs, books on tape, etc.

07‐13‐2017, Autoholic Gordo, race cars donʹt have a radio.

07‐13‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Mike, good luck on your adventure...

Safety, #1. Common sense, #1930214.

The date of the Fun Run to Gilʹs is pretty close to the date of The great American Road Trip. Meet us in Las Vegas instead.

07‐13‐2017, RallyBob Walter Foxtree (Propel) has driven his GT across the US, I think 8 times or so in the past 15 years. His car was decidedly not stock either!

He traveled from Rhode Island to San Francisco for the most part, related to his job.

Heʹs been low key the past few years, but rumor has it he settled not far from where I currently reside in New Hampshire.

77 07‐13‐2017, Adolf LepoRello Quote: A Cannonball Run in the Tinyvette...

Mike, I donʹt know where you got this time from, but you have to hurry up a bit according to Wikipedia:

ʺIn 2014, Strasser won and set yet another record at the Race Across America, completing the race in 7 days 15 hours 56 minutes, at an average speed of 16.42 miles per hourʺ

07‐13‐2017, Bbutler787 Quote: Bring A LOT of CDʹs, books on tape, etc.

SAY WHAT???Cassette or 8 track????????

07‐13‐2017, slracer I have been having serious thoughts about this! Let me enumerate them below:

1. NO! There is no way I am going!

2. Your target should be 3 days and 20 hours (+/‐) so you are ʺtwice as fast as the record holderʺ. You donʹt have to say who it is or what he/she was driving/riding!

3. You should plan on NYC to Chicago anyway you want, but from Chicago to Los Angeles you should follow as much of Route 66 as you can. This adds a hundred or so miles, but there has to be some other record of some kind that you can squeeze in!

4. Under NO circumstances should you take any advice from ANYONE on this Forum!

07‐13‐2017, Autoholic What are you looking for in a co‐driver? That might be helpful to anyone crazy enough to do this. I was reading about a recent run, and the lead driver said his biggest problem was finding people wanting to do it. He of course was going for the record, which meant felony levels of speed.

78 07‐13‐2017, Mike Meier My goal is simply to do it, at basically legal speeds, in a LeMons car, in an Opel GT. I might be able to later say I had the record of a LeMons race car, not that that means anything, but it is fun. We are still the worldʹs fastest LeMon per our Bonneville runs. Our speeds were no big deal, and being fastest Lemon is nothing special, other than being fun.

So my co‐pilot would be doing it for fun and thatʹs about it. Maybe weʹll get a little media, but probably not. Iʹll at least get a Blitz article out of it.

For all this ʺfunʺ you get to endure long days and long sleep‐deprived nights in a hot, noisy, cramped car that probably should be able to go the distance without any trouble, but to be safe I have AAA Premium.

Iʹm also considering doing this solo. I donʹt know if that has been attempted. Cool if it hasnʹt, otherwise doesnʹt matter. Iʹd drive until I needed sleep, then would pull off the road far enough to not be bothered and would bed down next to the car for a few hours, then get up and dust off the scorpions and resume the trip. What could possibly go wrong?

P.S. No cassette player, 8‐track, radio, etc. Maybe an iPod or iPhone, except the Tinyvette is already pretty noisy even with the windows in.

07‐14‐2017, Autoholic Iʹd remove the rear wing before trying this, you need as little drag as possible. And you might need to consider stiffer rear spring rates if youʹre putting in extra gas. Adding an extra tank to double capacity can mess with the vehicleʹs handling in a super light weight vehicle. 1 [US] gallon of gas weighs roughly 6.3 pounds. Personally, I wouldnʹt do this solo, you never know what can happen and itʹs always nice to have someone watching your back.

One of the things I remember reading in The Driver, was that Alex spent a lot of time on research. One of the things he looked at in depth was weather patterns. He wanted the best possible time of the year to go from one ocean to the other. Given the fact that the car in question is a street legal race car, I wouldnʹt want to attempt this

79 during cold or rather hot weather. Which makes me think late April, May or September as possible months to look at. You do not want to be traveling through some parts of the country during June or July with no air conditioning and plenty of heat coming from the trans tunnel. Youʹd end up with a new understanding of body odor.

07‐14‐2017, slracer I have to get serious AGAIN! Read number 4 on my comments of my earlier post. Leave to wing on!

Drag for a wing is Cd*dynamic pressure (q)*wing area.

Easy ones first ‐ Guessing the size (span) to be 5 feet with chord (width) of 1 foot gives 5 sq ft of wing area. BTW, a GT is 62 inches wide so look at the pics.

Dynamic pressure (wind force) is 1/2*air density*speed squared. At sea level (unless Mike drives through Death Valley and the Salton Sea, the only time he will be there is in Los Angeles & Santa Monica (Route 66 ‐ ) so it is conservative to use .0024 (rounded up) for density (units are correct for the calculation). Speed is a variable but I will use 75 mph (110 fps). He says ʺlegal speed limitʺ NOT Cannonball Baker! That makes total pressure about 14.4 psf. Note: all calculations are being done without a calculator so they are close, NOT exact!

Finally, drag coefficient. For the wing, there are 2 parts: zero lift drag and drag due to lift. To say the zero lift coefficient is 0.1 says the wing is not well designed. Trust me or try looking up some NACA airfoil data (for some unknown airfoil section). Drag due to lift is k*lift coefficient squared. Lift in this case is DOWN but the drag doesnʹt know the difference. A large angle of attack as on the Tinyvette could result in a Cl of 1.0 (remember, all the calcs are in my head and I am good at multiplying or dividing by 1). The ʺkʺ value is a function of geometry and is equal to 1/PI*aspect ratio(geometry function)*e (wing efficiency function also based on geometry). Aspect ratio is 5 (for a rectangular wing, span/chord) and ʺeʺ is 0.8 (again, a poor number for a high aspect ratio with end caps on the tips). Doing the numbers, k = PI * 0.8 (about 2.5) * aspect ratio = 12.5. 1/12.5 ~ .08 so drag due to lift is 1.0 squared * .08 = .08 and adding the zero lift drag above makes the total drag coefficient = 0.18

80 Putting all of this babble together makes Drag of the wing = 0.18 * 14.4 * 5 or about 13 lbs! Remember that all my assumptions were conservative and that I try to round up when I have to estimate so the actual value should be less than this! Leave the wing on!

ʺWe now return you to your regularly scheduled program. do do do do (music).ʺ Rod Sterling

PS ‐ HP required is D*V/550 so 13*110/550=2.6! In case any of you cared by now! .

07‐14‐2017, Autoholic Gotta support a post that took the time to put some numbers down. I knew it would increase the drag, just wasnʹt sure by how much. How much HP does Tinyvette currently produce?

07‐14‐2017, Mike Meier About 110 hp I guess. The original as‐found motor dynoed at 85 hp/102 torque. This one is a 1.9 bored to 2.0, high compression pistons (about 9.6:1), OR‐66 cam, dual DCOEs.

Numbers or not, the wing must stay. Itʹs a theme/identity thing. Side and rear windows would probably do a lot more for aero.

At this time Iʹve got two people interested in co‐driving. This might just happen!

07‐14‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: How much HP does Tinyvette currently produce?

Mike lied. The actual answer is zero. Or negative two because it takes a couple horses to move it around.

All in good fun. Tinyvette seems to get better with every iteration.

Mike will probably have it on the road again before half the forum reads this post.

07‐14‐2017, Autoholic That right there is cold. No love for a race car between engine builds.

81 07‐14‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Mike lied. The actual answer...

All in good fun. Tinyvette seems to get better with every iteration.

Mike will probably have it on the road again before half the forum reads this post.

It is on the road again! Sadly, the motor is not healthy enough to race. Give me another week for that.

I would have finished ʺGreenʺ today except the shop still has the crank. Last thing on my end was cleaning the head, lapping the valves, and reassembling it, which I finished a few hours ago. Itʹs in really great shape now. Everything else was ready to go for assembly. My move to Esparto takes place on Monday/Tuesday. On Wednesday I assemble ʺGreenʺ and run it on the test stand. If no problems are found it goes in the car on Thursday. ʺBlueʺ will then get gone through and prepped as a spare.

Iʹm looking at mid to late September for a cannonball run. I may have to skip the Buttonwillow race to do this. Or I move it back to early October and miss the Sacramento International Car Show, which I really canʹt do because I organize our exhibit for this event.

07‐14‐2017, Swiftus Ha! I would happily do this!

A couple of summers ago my SO and I drove my GT from DC to Oregon in under 18 days along a 5200‐mile route. That means we averaged ~290 miles a day. We spent most of the dawn and dusk hours driving and would spend the days in national parks. It was a super chill drive and we could have easily driven twice as far each day and still had daylight hours to do something touristy along the way.

Additionally, every year I drive with my schoolʹs racing team in a cannon‐ball‐esque road trip from Oregon to Michigan and back for our US competition. Its ~2400 miles each way and we do it in ~43 hours with a truck and 24‐foot car trailer. Typically its 2 or 3 in the truck (me and one or two other guys) and we just rotate every tank. Sleeping upright is pretty easy to do once you are tired enough.

82 A word of caution on your MPG estimations. Remember the West is all high elevation and high grade. Depending on the route that day, in my trip in the Opel I could see an easy 30 to 40% drop in fuel economy in high‐elevation / mountainous states like Colorado and Arizona.

07‐15‐2017, Yellow73GT Itʹs 2,880 miles via the shortest route and avoiding toll roads (trust me, avoid toll roads). It can be done by one single individual in 52.5 hours at legal speed limits (without chemical assistance) but you WILL be wrecked physically (with chemicals, 44.5 hours and your still wrecked physically).

If you have a co driver, there should be no reason it cant be done in 44.5 hours.

And if you have HUGE kahunas and a HUGE BANK ACCOUNT, it can be done in roughly 28 hours or so, but you most certainly wouldnʹt be ʺlive streamingʺ, because I guarantee you, someone with one of those shiny star things on their chest and a gack at their hip, will bring your journey to an unhappy ending.

I based these times on your stated average fuel mileage, and with the one stipulation that you must have a 20 gallon fuel tank.

2,880 miles at 30 mpg/average will net you a need for 96 gallons of fuel, divide that by 5 (roughly a stop every 10 hours of driving) = 19.2 gallon tank minimum.

And where are you coming up with 4 dollars a gallon? These are not the dark ages of 2008, fuel prices are actually declining in price currently, with a national average of $2.792 a gallon for premium. Even Cali with the highest price in the nation is only $3.166

(OMG I can not believe I said ʺonlyʺ, I remember when the local stations were having gas price wars and it was down to as cheap as $0.35 per gallon. Oh man was that a long, long time ago )

Every time you pull off the highway, realize you will lose minimum 15 minutes and up to a half hour for fuel, poop/pee, food, stretch.

I would caution you though. Long stretches of driving without

83 stopping, greatly increase ones risk of getting blood clots in ones legs, and more so the older you get. A couple aspirin a day may help, otherwise just add time and stop every 5 hours, just to stretch and get the blood moving again. More stops, more time.

I would love to do it, but I have had my fill of traveling cross country, having been a truck driver and/or having worked in other industries that required travel, the thought of being in a vehicle for that long just does not ʺtickle my fancyʺ anymore. As the old saying goes ʺbeen there, done that, bought the T shirt, and done wore it out.ʺ

When I want to experience long trips ʺjust for the hell of itʺ nowadays, I pull up Road Kill on YouTube. :P

07‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Hi ya Mikey,

Something to throw into this horrible idea....sticking to roads available at the time of Tinyvetteʹs manufacture. My granddad collected road maps, (thatʹs what we used before GPS to know where we were going.) and Iʹm sure I have some from that era. Or maybe follow the cyclistʹs route. Iʹm pretty sure he didnʹt spend much time up on the interstate.

I remember reading an article years and years ago in Car & Driver maybe? Two guys got sealed up in a car, along with sealing the gas cap and hood. I donʹt know if they were heading non‐stop to the west coast or what but they had to have everything needed inside with them. Jeez, Iʹll have to go see if I can find the story now.

07‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Just checked out the route for Race Across America 2014. Thatʹs the one the cyclist set the cross country record on. Nice. It was 2 lanes from Oceanside to Annapolis. The maps also showed the elevations during the trip. There was a whole lotta climbing. I donʹt know. It sure would be embarrassing to set out, in a racing type car, to beat a guy on a bicycle, and not. But hey, what was his average? 15mph? Shucks you can push Tinyvette that fast.

84 07‐16‐2017, opelwasp This sounds like fun. I know I could get the time off for it. As passenger Iʹd just need a sleep mask and earmuffs. As driver, CAFFEINE!!! I may be able to get out of a ticket or two, also. LOL

07‐16‐2017, The Scifi Guy Presumably youʹll be trailering your car over here? Would not the vehicle that brings your car here also be able to follow you on your adventure as your pit crew? Think of the possibilities: You could carry your own fuel in the now empty trailer, beer, spare engines, beer, axles, beer, tools, beer, clothes, your back up driver, could all follow you in air conditioned comfort while you sweat it out and go deaf behind the wheel! You could even bring your own chiropractor and table to help you regain full spinal function after all those miles in a GT! Better yet, leave the starting point, get about 10 miles outside of NYC, load the car back onto the trailer, drive to your destination in air conditioned comfort...... and beer....., unload the car 10 miles before your destination, arrive refreshed and well rested, not stinking of sweat and motor oil, ready for your photo shoot for setting the cross‐country record!

Whoʹll know you didnʹt actually drive the whole way?

07‐16‐2017, kwschumm Quote: This sounds like fun. I know I could get the time off...

You will need a large breasted female co‐driver to help with the tickets. But watch out for those female cops!

07‐16‐2017, The Scifi Guy Or get a flat chested female driver and equip her with a set of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Pump‐Inflatab.../dp/B00C2JZE58

Guy cop? Pumpʹem up! Girl cop? Pull the cork! Apply stick‐on mustache and grey haired wig. Old guys donʹt get tickets.

07‐16‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Presumably youʹll be trailering your car...

Shades of Rosie Ruiz and the Boston Marathon!

85 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Ruiz

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Sag support with a well‐stocked trailer sounds like a great idea. It will certainly be able to keep up with the Tinyvette. Most of all, the co‐driver would have a decent place to sleep, as opposed to being strapped into a racing seat that wonʹt even let you lean against the window, which of course wonʹt be there. Engine swaps in‐route would add a nice Lemony touch.

I think it is time I quite cogitating on this and start developing a real plan. Here it is:

Pick a date. Race dates this summer are July 29‐30 (Thunderhill), August 26‐27 (Shelton, WA), September 30‐October 1 (Buttonwillow). Iʹm organizing a car show for October 20‐22. Yuba City Community College wants me to help teach a course starting August 14. Itʹs looking like a number of things will make the Yuba College thing not workable so I can take that off the list. So now itʹs looking like early or mid September, or late September if I pass on the Buttonwillow race.

The car has to be running. Weʹve had problems with that lately. Itʹs getting a fresh engine next week and will see two races before September. Two races will either mean a do‐over on the engine or we have a good, seasoned, engine. Weʹve got a like‐new diff and the transmission was recently gone through. Front brakes are still giving us trouble during races but with fresh pads weʹd be good for a heap of road miles.

Ship the car to NYC or thereabouts. Maybe I can sucker Craig into receiving it, or Gordon, or Charles.

Fly out using my accumulated miles on Southwest and stay at a La Quinta using my 60,000 points.

Leave the Red Ball Garage on East 31st Street NYC at 0:00 AM.

Route? Shortest or most interesting? This isnʹt a tour, so shortest it is. But shortest what? Donʹs idea of following the bike route is interesting. I wonder it that can be made the standard LeMons Cannonball route. Google Maps offers two routes, 41 and 42

86 hours. The 42 hour route is more northern and covers territory I am familiar with. Late in the year the southern route would be preferred as it will avoid winter weather issues.

Arrive at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California in time for us to wash up and join Gil for the start of the 50th Anniversary of the GT road trip.

Car Preparation

Add a passenger seat. Modify the roll cage to accommodate the seat.

Install an e‐brake. The handle is gone on the Tinyvette, the tunnel was chopped, so Iʹm looking into an electric e‐brake.

Fuel tank. There wonʹt be time to get this done, plus itʹs pricey, about $600 to modify the tank, and $1500+ for the bladder, and another $500 or so for the related hardware.

Windows? Probably necessary. I learned from my trips to the Tacoma Meet that fifteen non‐stop hours of wind coming in the window will drive you crazy. I have Lexan windows from our Bonneville adventure. I could install them, but they donʹt roll up/down. I need to make them easily removable.

Install the 32/36 carburetors? These will provide great gas mileage. I love the DCOEs but they run so rich under cruise conditions. Maybe I can experiment with e‐tubes and jets to broaden the range over which the emulsification happens. I may stick with the DCOEs so I can say we did this in LeMons race trim.

07‐16‐2017, Swiftus Iʹve driven the I‐70 / I‐15 Denver to Vegas route a couple of times and it is pretty fun for an interstate.

Iʹve also driven I‐80 Chicago to Wyoming both ways half a dozen times and that is not interesting. Itʹs about as boring as an interstate can be. However, I am willing to bet any 1000 mile stretch of road through that part of the country is going to be boring. I guess I‐80 does have some of the best truck stops that I have ever seen ‐ so it

87 has something going for it.

On my trip in my GT a couple of summers ago, the SO and I went on the old Pony Express route from Missouri all the way to the Utah Border. For a system that was only in place for a handful of years just before the Civil War, there sure still is a lot of nostalgia surrounding it. In general, US 36 is the route across the prairie for the Pony Express and we ended up making our ʹpit stopsʹ at the historic stables which were still standing along the route. A real brick and mortar stable was built every 100 miles along the route and many have now been converted into pubs, so they kind of make an ideal stop for a lazy road trip nowadays.

Another thing to add to your list is a set of super‐bright rally lights. While it wonʹt really matter for any interstate driving, any 2‐lane road driving done in the twilight hours will fell much more comfortable with a good set of lights on the nose of the car.

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Thanks. I thought about extra lights. I have them already and they can be installed in 2 minutes. But I have to check the legality of using them on highways.

I wish this was a tour and we could take in scenic sites.

I just talked to Don. I now have a co‐driver.

07‐16‐2017, First opel 1981 I will second the opinion on the truck stops. On my first (memorable) trek cross country, my sisters and I would look for the billboards counting down the miles to the truck stops. Some truck stops had mileage markers hundreds of miles in advance. The truck stops were like small towns in the middle of nowhere with nothingness between them.

Nostalgic to think that 40 years has passed.

As for the driving lights, they are usually legal as long as no other cars are visible. You canʹt have them behind someone or in oncoming traffic either. Definitely double check, however.

Iʹm confused about the CannonBall run thing. Is this a sanctioned

88 event or is it a bucket list thing? Meaning, is there an official entity actually recording the drive during a set event time or just a for fun thing?

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Originally it was an outlaw thing, as in, not legal, not sanctioned.

Today there seems to be a group organizing Cannonball Run‐like tours. Iʹm sure they stay within the speed limits.

For me, itʹs a bucket list thing I guess, although it was never on my list until last week. I think itʹs more of a performance art kind of thing. An interesting derivative of normal motorsports that may or may not have a message embedded in it.

Truck stops will be nice because theyʹll be easy to get in and out of. Itʹs not like we are going to stay a while, shower and eat.

07‐16‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: Originally it was an outlaw thing...

Mike, OK, so to be clear, Iʹm not judging you, but this is really you wanting to drive from point A to point B and timing yourself?

Itʹs going to be interesting, of course, either way. I know Iʹve driven the distance in a Pinto (there and back) (not much difference between a Pinto and an Opel GT as far as comfort and reliability) but canʹt imagine doing it in an Opel (not true, I imagine it frequently).

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Yep. Itʹs a run from a particular point A to a particular point B.

It remains to be seen how aggressive we will be in this. I do intend to keep the car moving as much as possible, ideally 24 hours a day, but if that is not safe weʹll stop and sleep.

As for speed, speed limit +/‐, going with the flow of traffic, for the most part. In stretches it may make sense to go faster.

Iʹm thinking Iʹll try to time this so our arrival in LA is a few days before the Buttonwillow race. That would give me time to dust off, pack, and get to the race.

89 Iʹm also looking into way to promote this. This is the kind of thing Road Kill would do, and Iʹm sure Elana would be interested in this. I know a writer at Jalopnik. She might take an interest.

I will shoot video along the route and Iʹm still looking into live streaming at least parts of this.

07‐16‐2017, First opel 1981 Cool.

You have a getrag, right?

07‐16‐2017, Swiftus I can get you in touch with a couple of writers at Jalopnik as well (Clay and Patrick are personal friends of mine) if you would like ‐ I donʹt know what kind of relationship you have with your contact but my offer will stand. Nothing like making a Goofball run in a GT more of a thing!

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: I can get you in touch with a couple of writers...

That would be great, but hold off for now. This is the kind of thing Road Kill would do and I donʹt want to let them beat me to it. Theyʹll be on the LeMons tour in August and will be doing a show on that, no doubt. Iʹll basically be doing the tour LeMons should have done/wish they could have done.

Iʹm not saying much about this outside this forum and among friends and team mates.

07‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: You have a getrag, right?

Yes, Getrag. 12 mph per every 500 rpm. I donʹt have a speedometer (typo: tach).

07‐16‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: Yes, Getrag. 12 mph per every 500 rpm...

If you keep the tach below 3500 you should be fine. (thatʹs close to 85mph)

90 07‐17‐2017, Swiftus For this, a using your phone GPS to make sure you donʹt miss a turn will be useful. And itʹll tell you how fast you are going...

07‐18‐2017, crliwa My home on Long island is 1 hour from your starting point..... without traffic & 2 hours during rush hour. Gerriʹs NYC apartment is on E 52nd street .. less than a mile from your starting point. Iʹve done the NY to LA in 4 days towing my Opel GT with the Ford Lightning and did Tucson to Long Island (2500 miles) in 36 + hours solo and Phoenix to Long Island (approx. 2700 mi.) in 35 hours with my son sharing the driving. I was definitely driving over the posted speed. I try to keep it just under +10 mph, but often get carried away. Road work, especially on I 40 can kill you.

Iʹll be glad to accept the car and if necessary trailer it into NYC.

Again... what dates are you looking at?

07‐18‐2017, kwschumm As cops sometime say, ʺEight is fine, nine youʹre mineʺ. Iʹve been driving eight over for years and not had a problem (knock on wood) but my daily driver cars are boring. Well, the Baja is kind of cute, bright yellow and all, but itʹs not a sexy sports car.

07‐18‐2017, PROPEL Quote: Walter Foxtree (Propel) has driven his GT...

Man, you realize that you moved just two towns away from me, right? Which means that Iʹve been really, really busy these days tunneling under to your garage. Btw, Iʹm three‐quarters of the way there now... so Iʹll see you soon!

Iʹve lost count on how many times I drove across the country in various Opels... somewhere from high‐teens to early twenties. I usually did it non‐stop in around 52 hours by myself or with co‐drivers.

Some trips I would cruise for hours @ 100 ‐ 120mph indicated. Always fun, and too many stories to tell.

91 07‐19‐2017, Yellow73GT I made the trip from Virginia Beach, Va. all the way to Hemet California (almost to the ocean, 2662 miles) in under 7 days on a 1981 Suzuki GS 550L With a full sea bag of gear, a bedroll, a boom box, and a 1 gallon gas can, and only $170 in cash. Slept on the ground next to the bike in rest areas by making a lean‐too type shelter using a sheet tied to the bike. After resting a few days at my moms place in Hemet, I then proceeded to ride all the way up to Myrtle, Point Or (another 912 miles). The whole entire trip is one journey I could neither make again nor would I ever survive doing it again. But it is a memory I will never ever forget.

07‐19‐2017, RallyBob Quote: Man, you realize that you moved just two towns...

Lol, we should grab lunch and a beer some time then Walter!

07‐20‐2017, Red0ktober Why donʹt you run the LeMons Rally with the Tinyvette. You have a month to get it prepped. A friend and I are running it with my Kadett!

08‐04‐2017, Mike Meier Iʹm still working on this. Don is ready to go whenever I am. I am ready to go now but the car needs some preparations.

I need to install a passenger seat. Iʹm thinking it will be a second Kirkey racing seat, not the most comfortable, but good, and I can use it for future track days and driverʹ schools.

Iʹm thinking about windows. I can put in our Bonneville Lexan, but the door windows do not roll done. I may need to find a way to add a vent to them.

I have plans to eventually install a modified fuel cell. John Pagel will build it for me. It will be a modified Opel tank that is taller, adding 5 gallons more fuel capacity. That will help us in our races and for the Cannonball. With 18‐20 gallons of fuel we should be good for over 4 hours between fuel stops. We can swap drivers more often, but we wonʹt have to fuel as often. If money appears, I may be able to do this before the Cannonball, or LemonBall Run, or whatever

92 clever name we come up with.

Iʹll see about getting a CB radio/scanner, not so much for police but for news of road work and other obstacles we might be able to avoid.

I think Iʹll remove our current 4‐camera system and get a couple of Go Pros and bring my Sony Handicam. All are high‐def. Surely weʹll have footage worth sharing when this is done.

I just watched ʺ32 Hours, 7 Minutesʺ. Interesting. I totally get the addiction of a pointless, self‐imposed/inflicted challenge. Iʹm already feeling that. However, I donʹt care for the outlaw aspect of the Cannonball. Iʹm a ʺtake it to the trackʺ kind of guy. Even if we stick pretty much to the speed limit it will be a worthy and interesting challenge. Still, I am looking for a way to make this more than a sleepless cross‐country trek. The novelty of being in a LeMons race car, and an Opel GT, is certainly worth something. LeMons will have recently completed their tour, but this may raise the bar for them. Anyway, I am looking for angles to play to make this more interesting and notable.

08‐13‐2017, Mike Meier Don and I got together here at Team Tinyvette World Headquarters yesterday to discuss the plan in earnest. Weʹve both been thinking about this a lot, poking around on Youtube and the Internet, and in general figuring this out.

The date will now be late October. My guys want to race Buttonwillow in late September so I want to make sure the car is healthy for that. Iʹm organizing an exhibit at a car show in Sacramento in mid‐October and thatʹs whatʹs pushing us back to later October. Late October is not as cold as it used to be. Rain is a possibility, especially back east, but that wonʹt be a problem. At least it wonʹt be hot.

The plan is to ship the car to NYC the day after the Sacramento show. Iʹve talked to Craig and I can ship it to his house. He may or may not be there but heʹll have someone available to receive the car. Craig also offered lots of good advice on getting the car shipped and on the route to take. Craigʹs route is to get south to I‐40 in TN and take I‐40 to LA. Iʹve driven I‐40 from California to NC before. Itʹs a freeway, non‐stop, assuming we donʹt get held up in construction

93 zones.

Don and I will work out route details, starting with the Google Mapsʹ suggestions, perhaps incorporating or even going with Craigʹs idea.

The original Cannonball left NYC at midnight so thatʹs what weʹll do. With a Friday departure we should be able to avoid commute traffic and active construction.

While Don was here he got to drive the car. He fits, which is a good thing, and commented on how the race seat doesnʹt leave much wiggle room, something you like to have for long drives. Heʹs still game. Iʹve done 12 hour drives in the Tinyvette and survived, but learned a few things, like how the sun coming in the driverʹs side window really gets to you after 8 hours, and the wind in the face for 12 hours really tires you. I may put an arm‐rest type something on the doors, and now that I think of it, door windows will be essential. I may tint/silver them, and will need to add a vent.

With a passenger seat in the car we wonʹt have room for the cool seat system, but with a late October start date we should be fine. With the roll cage and two race seats there wonʹt be room for much of anything expect two people. Weʹve agreed that we want the Lexan windows in, and with that the case getting anything in or out of the area behind the seats will be difficult. A spare tire is out of the question so weʹll bring an electric air pump and a patch/plug kit. Weʹll also bring basic tools. Those we can stow in the nose down by the oil cooler. The doors are hollow and the inside sheet metal has been removed, so we can store food and some clothing there. The only clothing weʹll bring will let us deal with the weather, plus maybe a clean t‐shirt.

Food and water will be minimal. We just need enough to stay healthy and awake, not fat and happy. Iʹm thinking of installing some type of cup holders, maybe on the tunnel since the car is too narrow for the door‐mounted kind.

Don has a CB radio and antenna that attaches using a magnet. Iʹll get that mounted up in advance. Don also has his license, so I wonʹt worry about getting one myself.

Iʹll bring my Valentine 1 radar detector. We wonʹt be going 140+

94 mph, but itʹs always nice to have this on long trips. In some states they are illegal so Iʹll look into that.

More serious teams run with laser jammers and much more. Not us. We will have a iPhone, maybe two, with whatever apps that might be useful. And of course weʹll be posting updates to Facebook and here.

For cameras Iʹll (finally) get GoPros, at least three, plus Iʹll bring my Sony handicam and a tripod. The tripod is for the departure and arrival scenes, maybe some break‐down scenes, arrest scenes...

Iʹll need to do a little wiring so we can power the cameras, CB, phones, etc.

The car is bright yellow with numbers and stickers, and a big wing, and worst of all, California plates, so we might get some attention, even at normal speeds. The car is street legal and registered and insured, but still, there are a few small items, like no backup light, no e‐brake, the VIN not on the dash (no dash), and Iʹm thinking of just using the 5‐point harnesses rather than the original 3‐points. Maybe I should bring the 3‐points in case it becomes an issue. Iʹm not expecting trouble with the police, but it has to be included in the planning.

Iʹm still thinking fuel cell/modified tank. John can do it, but thereʹs the cost plus time to get a liner made. With a modified tank we should be able to get 18‐20 gallons of fuel in the car. Figuring about 2 gallons per hour (5+ gallons per hour when racing) that should get us 9‐10 hours between fuel stops. Don and I discussed length of time for driver stints and while we can both do 10‐15 hour stints, with pee breaks, weʹll go with much shorter stints, probably 2 hours. That way weʹll stay relatively fresh. Itʹs not like the passenger, in a race seat, will be getting much sleep.

Weʹre still trying to work up compelling themes for this project. The LeMons rally is happening soon. Weʹll be doing a different rally. It is a LeMons car, in theory a $500 car, so thereʹs that. Weʹll be driving more or less normal speeds, which is not exciting and certainly not outlaw, but it will be interesting to see what times we can get under those conditions. Donʹs thinks we should at least beat the times for the cross‐country bicyclists. I think we should beat the time of long

95 haul truckers, maybe even trains. The record‐breaking teams average 90+ mph over the whole distance. Weʹre shooting for 70+ mph. Hey, at least we have a goal.

Donʹs idea on how to get us home again is to drive his truck and trailer to his brotherʹs place in LA, then take the plane from LA to NYC for the start. When we get back to LA we can pick up Donʹs truck and trailer the Tinyvette home again.

Thatʹs the plan as it stands now.

08‐13‐2017, RallyBob Just am FYI, but my understanding is the original Cannonball started from Darien, CT.

08‐13‐2017, First opel 1981 A decent dashcam can run less than $100 and does a good job of recording video. Only downside Iʹve run into is that they record in one‐minute segments. Quick editing programs can blend them seamlessly though.

Four dashcams can be had for the price of a single GoPro. Not saying I donʹt like my GoPro but they are more suited for sports, IMHO.

08‐14‐2017, Swiftus No Sleep *from* Brooklyn!

08‐14‐2017, Mike Meier It turns out a crapcan version of the Cannonball has been run.

https://youtu.be/Wu3JfXS‐NV0

Completion times ranged from 32 to 44 hours. I think we can beat 44 hours.

Iʹm looking a the GoPro Hero5 and Hero5 Session, probably getting three of the later, one of the former. They have low‐light capabilities and support external mics.

08‐14‐2017, Swiftus The Session5 is pretty legit. Its good that they fixed the pricing on it to match the ʹfull sizedʹ GoPro with similar specs.

96 One thing to note about GoProʹs video files is that using a smaller resolution or slower frame rate doesnʹt always equate to more video time. Its really dumb. Like a 1440p and 1080p video at the same frame rate will have exactly the same file size. (1440 should be 1.8x the amount of information).

I like using 1440 on cars because it gives you the ability to post process even more image stabilization into the shot. You also have the ability to ʹlookʹ into an apex by cropping towards an edge of frame.

Make sure you get some external power run to the cameras. If you have the power switched with the ignition, the cameras can be set up to start recording based on the input of external power.

Big SDXC V3 memory cards are a must, especially if you want to do any high‐speed or 4K recording. Just know that the longest single video (it was chaptered, but I only hit record once) I was ever able to take was about 16 hours in length. That was on a 256GB memory card and it was nearly full...

They do have time lapse modes, and with those I was able to take an 8 day time lapse that still worked just fine. However, if you think you are going to just do a time lapse with one of the cameras, I would suggest that camera be one of the simple $75 GoPro clones. They have really good still quality and just fall short in the on‐board image stabilization department.

08‐14‐2017, Mike Meier Thanks for the tips on the cameras. I just ordered one along with 64 GB SD card. The manual says 64 GB is the limit. Good to know it can take larger cards.

I be testing it a bit before I commit get more cameras.

08‐14‐2017, Swiftus The standard for SDXC is 2TB... I definitely donʹt have the cash to test that limit though!

08‐14‐2017, Autoholic Iʹd recommend getting a phone mount and download a speedometer app. If you have an iPhone, Sp33dy is a free app that has both a day

97 and night viewing screen. It will even overlay your speed on the phoneʹs camera and record it. You do not want to worry about your speed when you need to do a quick speed check. Doing this with a phone mount, you wouldnʹt need to look away from the road to see your speed.

08‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Quick estimates of speed based on the tach reading are easy, but not so accurate. Iʹm looking for a trip app or device, something that will give speed, average speed, etc.

This looks interesting: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spee...405239907?mt=8

Iʹll check out Sp33dy. Thanks.

08‐21‐2017, Red0ktober Quote: Quick estimates of speed based on the tach reading...

Mike, you could just get a Garmin GPS or somesuch.

08‐22‐2017, Mike Meier Weʹll probably do that to record way‐points.

09‐06‐2017, Mike Meier This is still on track. It will happen.

Iʹve gotten two good recommendations for shipping the car to NYC.

Iʹve got fresh Lexan to make door windows with sliders so we can get fresh air in the car. Give me a few days and Iʹll have that done.

I need to refit the rear and rear quarter Lexan windows. Over half of the rear got replaced last winter and I need to re‐drill for screws.

Next week I get the passenger‐side door bars refitted so I can get a seat in the car. John will do the work as part of a cage building course he is teaching.

Next up, buy a Kirkey seat for the passenger/navigator.

09‐20‐2017, West Coast GT

98 Unless this is a closed event, Iʹd like to join and run my ʹ72 GT.

My co‐driver will be my nephew, Crash MacRae. Iʹve named him thus as heʹs totaled four cars in solo accidents. The last one was a new pickup truck he was still making payments on. He ran it off a dike embankment one night several months ago.

But he still had his motorcycle for transportation. No, wait. Heʹs totaled that one now too. I believe he used a car on which to tee‐bone into. Though off work while recuperating, he has limited use of his shifter arm, and his clutch leg seems to function, mostly. But heʹs short and fits easily into the car.

Weʹll take a 5‐day tour of the Lincoln Highway, historic Route 50, San Francisco to New York, meet up with Mike & Don (maybe dinner), and bust ass west. Iʹm inclined to follow TinyVetteʹs route, but I guess thatʹs not necessarily a given.

While I have the home made 2.0 high compression, Iʹm still running 13ʺ wheels/tires and a 4‐speed. So my car needs refueling more often than TinyVette. However, with old guys in both cars, fuel consumption isnʹt really the primary factor driving the frequency of pit stops, now is it?

If we can manage to stick together, we wonʹt need video cams. All weʹll need are window signs asking people to post their video to a specific site.

09‐20‐2017, opelbits A couple suggestions if I may, I havenʹt read the entire thread, but....

To stay awake on long night drives, windows down and the heat cranked onto my feet. My head stays clear with cool fresh air and I stay warm. Bring a sweater like mom always said. A radio (or some such audio playback device) and a stock of really bad music. Or a list of talk radio stations On the opposite end of your preferred political spectrum.

Do you have a list of emergency Opel numbers along your route? If you come through St. Louis, Iʹd be happy to be on the list.

99 09‐21‐2017, Mike Meier Thanks.

The car is too noisy for a radio, but I still have my old iPod.

There is no heater or fan, but the floor and tunnel stay pretty warm. Too warm, actually. The paint on the passenger side keeps burning away. Iʹve also got AAA Premium.

Iʹve modified the Lexan door windows so we can get some air in the car, and Iʹm modifying the rear quarter windows so they mount with Dzus fasteners. That will make it easy to remove them if we need to increase cabin air flow.

I was planning on getting contact numbers along the route. That route will probably be I‐81 out of NYC, I‐40 to Salt Lake City, then I‐15 to LA.

Keith may be joining us in his car. Heʹs got a co‐driver already. That would make this a 2‐Opel Run. Weʹll leave NYC together but will probably get split up at the first fuel stop.

09‐21‐2017, slracer Quote: The car is too noisy...

2890 miles (and 42 hours) per Google for NYC & LA with no specific address, there may be a more boring route but I canʹt think of one right now! What I donʹt understand is how you are planning to MOVE Salt Lake City 500 miles south of where it is now (on I‐80) onto I‐40? I drove I‐80 from York, NE (west of Lincoln) to Bonneville last month. Itʹs a good road (and like all Interstate highways, boring!) so I would recommend you leave SLC where it is and change highways! ‐‐ Doug

PS ‐ I‐80 is also about 100 miles shorter and 1 hour faster and the speed limits in western NE are 80 mph on the IS. Dropping down through Denver and into SLC also accounts for part of the shorter route.

Also, be sure to change your departure highway as I‐280 goes slightly north to meet I‐80 so you donʹt need I‐81 (wherever it is as I could not find it?).

100 09‐21‐2017, The Scifi Guy Is there a possibility of posting, here and maybe Facebook, your progress and where you are as you do your drive? Maybe some Opelers would like to join up and ride along with you as you pass through their territory. I know that youʹre trying to make a time deadline, but if there was the possibility of you having sort of pre‐arranged ʺpit stopsʺ, Opelers could gather at that particular rest stop for a quick photo op when you arrive and then ride along with you for a while when you depart.

09‐21‐2017, Mike Meier Weʹre definitely thinking of that. Facebook and this forum for sure. Meeting and running with locals will be a challenge but sounds fun.

09‐22‐2017, West Coast GT Had lunch with Crash today, then a short drive to see if he can shift. He did fine, but I need to add an arm rest to the center console.

09‐22‐2017, Mike Meier Your co‐driver is named ʺCrashʺ?

09‐23‐2017, Red0ktober Quote: Your co‐driver is named ʺCrashʺ?

Too bad this probably wonʹt end up near me in the PNW, Iʹd cruise along with the Kadett for a bit.

10‐06‐2017, Mike Meier I was hoping the Tinyvette would come home from Buttonwillow intact, but alas. Good news is the body repairs started on Wednesday and are nearly completed and the replacement engine will be done this weekend. I still need to finish the Lexan windows, install USB power plugs in the rear firewall/fuel bulkhead, and install passenger seats.

Weʹll have the car ready in time for the car show at Cal Expo (October 20‐22) and immediately after that it gets shipped to NYC.

So, this is still going to happen.

101 10‐10‐2017, Mike Meier I am working on this nearly full time now. Itʹs taking some effort to get the pieces to fit. I know this is still several weeks away, but Iʹm starting to stress about this. Again with the ʺWhy do I do these things to myself?ʺ anxieties.

I had a recommendation on a shipper but he is not available. Iʹm now getting bids from uship. The average should be around $1000, early bids are coming in at $1400.

The car will be shipped to West Babylon, NY, which is out on Long Island, about an hourʹs drive from Red Ball. There are plenty or reasonably priced hotels nearby. Iʹll try to get Don and I a free room at a La Quinta. I have lots of ʺpointsʺ with them.

Iʹve ordered more GoPros and will be installing and testing them soon.

The body work is not done. It should be done by Thursday.

The engine should be ready by this weekend. Should be.

Iʹm working on a detailed description of the route. I need to review it carefully, then Iʹll create a way‐points table, listing travel time and distances between selected towns. We can use it to log our progress.

I still need to get a passenger seat. New ones cost about $600. I think I have a line on a used one that is local. Iʹll see it tonight.

10‐14‐2017, Mike Meier The body work is done and the car is at home again. It still needs decals, but that can be done next week. Many thanks to Gil for the door and section of rocker and for Kurt and his talents doing the work.

Iʹm taking the car to a show in Oakdale today, Flocktoberfest. Itʹs a crapcan racing event combining Lucky Dog, 24 Hours of LeMons, and ChumpCar, with exhibitors, cars, and a guy I can talk to about a job. It runs from 1 PM to 6 PM so I wonʹt be able to pick up the engine in West Sac today. Iʹll get it tomorrow and will start the swap then.

102 Iʹve got the Sacramento International Auto Show next weekend and will be busy getting ready for that, which involves transporting a number of cars. Iʹll be on the road at least two days next week, then at the show Thursday‐Sunday, then returning cars again. I wonʹt be able to do much on the car after Monday. I may have to put this off a week.

More cameras have arrived and Iʹll be installing them. Iʹm saving room for your radio.

Lexan windows are partially done. Iʹm using dzus fasteners for the rear quarter windows. That will give us some access to the area behind the seat. With the race seats in it will be nearly impossible to get to anything from the front.

Iʹll be picking up the passenger seat at the show today.

The cage modifications have not been done and John is out of town. I need to find someone else to do the work and Iʹm sure someone at todayʹs show will be able to help.

Iʹve got a number of bids from shippers. Price came down from $1400 to $1150, about 50 cents per mile, about the cost of driving the car. Iʹll have to modify my bids.

10‐23‐2017, Mike Meier The car runs great. I need to get it on the road for a few miles then change the oil to make sure, but it starts easily and runs great, is even happy at 6000 rpm.

The body work is done and the car has fresh vinyl. Cosmetically, it is ready to go.

I met with Don at the car show yesterday. We talked, and even with the delay he is still in. He handed me a CB radio that Iʹll install this week.

Iʹm requesting new bids for shipping. I need to call Craig and get tips from him again on this process, and to discuss likely dates the car will arrive and we will get there to start our adventure.

103 10‐23‐2017, GTRoy Mike, Will you be going thru Arizona ?? Might be able to get some video as you roar past. Maybe from an overpass or a high spot beside the road somewhere in the desert. No need to even slow down, but you both could wave for the camera and your fans !

10‐24‐2017, markandson Quote: The car runs great. I need to get it on the road...

Mike, If something goes wrong timing wise with shipping the car to Craig you could always ship it to my shop which is only 1 hour North of the city. Plenty of room for unloading too.

10‐24‐2017, Mike Meier Thanks, Jeff.

Roy, Iʹm finalizing our route now. Basically, we dive down to Knoxville then take I‐40 all the way to Barstow, CA, then south to LA. We do go through AZ. Iʹll upload it when it is done.

10‐24‐2017, slracer Quote: Roy, Iʹm finalizing our route now...

Mike, what is the approximate schedule for this fool hardy adventure? The reason I ask is that I‐40 through NM & AZ is ʺhigh countryʺ with the elevation just west of Santa Rosa, NM popping above that of Denver (the mile high city) and staying there almost all the way to Seligman, AZ (500 miles) with a peak of nearly 7000 ft at Flagstaff. That often brings early snow fall and my wife & I have been ʺdelayed overnightʺ as has my son in Flagstaff. By early, I think I heard that it snowed in that area already this year (it wasnʹt snowing here in Phoenix so I didnʹt pay to much attention)! Check the weather and use I‐30 from Little Rock if necessary (I‐30 becomes I‐20 in Dallas then I‐10 further west). It does add about 100 miles but it makes it a lot easier for Roy and me (unless you switch to I‐8 north of Tucson and skip Phoenix). On the other hand we could be ʺstanding on a corner in Winslow, AZ ...) and wave to you there! We might even get Norbert along for that!

10‐24‐2017, Mike Meier We are definitely hoping to avoid snow, though you wouldnʹt think so seeing as I have pushed it back a week. The route at this time is

104 basically I‐81 south to Knoxville then I‐40 to California. Itʹs possible I‐81 will have snow as well. Iʹm putting fresh rubber on the car and am considering bringing chains, but if it really looks like snow weʹll find another route.

Iʹm finally done with most of last weekʹs show business now and have gotten a little done on the Tinyvette. See the photo. Tomorrow I bring the upside‐down Camaro to Sacramento for a video shoot, on Thursday I return the Conrero to Gil. Then I am full time on this project again.

BTW, I drove the Tinyvette on streets today and it ran great, gauges perfect, everything looking good. Iʹll put a few more miles on it this weekend then will change the oil, and check for glitter.

10‐25‐2017, slracer I love the license plate on the UDCamaro! If any of you donʹt see what Iʹm talking about, look carefully and you will see the plate is mounted upside down (so on the ʺnormalʺ car it would be correctly positioned). Great little side bit and really shows what goes into these cars! Fun, Fun, Fun!

10‐28‐2017, Mike Meier For those who havenʹt seen the license plate... (photo)

10‐28‐2017, Mike Meier The car is coming together. The rear and rear quarter windows are in and the door windows have been fitted. They are now getting the sliding vent.

Donʹs CB radio is in and we now have a GPS speedometer.

Tonight, more cleaning and paint touch‐up. Tomorrow the fully assembled door windows go in.

Does anyone know of a GPS‐base trip tracker. I have an excellent app on my iPhone but am doubt it will work all the way across the country, such as when weʹre in areas with no cell phone service.

10‐29‐2017, Mike Meier Much progress today. I painted the insides of the doors, finished the Lexan windows and installed them, installed four dual USB power

105 receptacles (for powering cameras, etc.), put the windshield wiper motor and all back in, removed the brake duct and put turn signals in, plus other odds and ends.

I still need to get the passenger seat installed, buy two more cameras, pick up the tires I had mounted, maybe buy chains, and install some 12 volt computer fans, hoping they can cut down on windshield fogging.

10‐30‐2017, Mike Meier It sure is easy to spend $1000. Two tires, two more cameras, USB cables, Dzus fittings, and yet more tools. But, the car is almost ready to ship.

The door bar mod and seat install will be happening today.

10‐30‐2017, SpringGT Does anyone know of a GPS‐base trip tracker. I have an excellent app on my iPhone but am doubt it will work all the way across the country, such as when weʹre in areas with no cell phone service.

Mike, my Garmin 3490 GPS has a trip computer that gives trip mileage, compass direction, elevation, current mph (speedo), max trip speed, average moving speed, total trip average speed, stopped time, moving time and total time, plus maps, routing, fuel, service, food and shopping features. Is information like this what you had in mind?

Screen picture attached.

10‐30‐2017, First opel 1981 Many hiking apps will do tracking through the GPS. No cell signal needed.

The basic purpose of the app is to get you back out of the woods if you get lost.

It should work for you just fine.

106 10‐30‐2017, Mike Meier Sounds just right.

So, 151 mph huh?

I checked and my iPhone app uses a GPS. I didnʹt know my phone had a GPS.

In other news, point of no return. I booked the shipper, and a flight, and a hotel room. Thereʹs no turning back now.

10‐30‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Sounds just right...

Mike, yes, that 151mph was set on the Autobahn between Stuttgart and Frankfurt a few years ago. I picked up a new Merc at the factory and toured in it for a few weeks before shipping it home. Their roads feel a lot more secure at speed than ours do. I didnʹt notice the max speed setting when I sent the picture; I guess that I never have reset the max speed since that trip.

10‐31‐2017, Mike Meier I doubt weʹll top 90 mph on this little jaunt.

Your suggestion has made me think going with just a navigator and not my route notes might work out even better. Whatʹs another $350? ugh

I booked my flight and Donʹs, paid for using points. So, one way tickets for 2 cost us about $10. I booked the hotel using points, so a 2 day stay for 2 cost $0.

We depart here on Nov 8, giving us a day to adjust to the time change and to handle last minute issues with the car, maybe even get in a practice run for the first 20 miles or so.

The car ships out this week, Thursday or Friday, and will be delivered to Craigʹs house about Wednesday the following week. A friend of Craigʹs will be there to receive it.

Iʹm getting nervous/excited.

107 10‐31‐2017, SpringGT Mike, Iʹll suggest a couple of other things that are nice to have on the road, which you might have or might have already considered.

First, are you a AAA member? With the deluxe membership you can get a free 200 mile tow if needed; 100 miles with the standard membership. Also you can get free paper maps from any AAA store.

Secondly, do you have the ʺFind My Friendsʺ feature on your i‐phone? If so, you can give your cell number to friends and, using this feature, they can monitor your progress on a map on their phone as you travel. Someone always knows exactly where you are and itʹs nice to have in case of trouble!

Next, if you have the ʺGas Buddyʺ ap on your phone it will give you all of the gas stations near you as well as the prices. It is a free ap.

Good luck.

10‐31‐2017, RallyBob If you havenʹt already, contact Gene about the ʹO.P.E.Lʹ list (Opel People Emergency List), you can get names and contact info of Opel owners along the route you intend to travel.

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/general...tml#post223041

10‐31‐2017, Don Michaelson Well gosh Bob, being an Opel and all I wasnʹt figurinʹ weʹd be breaking down. Howdy folks. I guess itʹs about time to chime in on this here horrible idea. Good old Mike caught me at a time when I had my defenses down and maybe too many beers under my belt. In that condition Mike spoke in convincing tones and before I knew it I was in. What a grand idea! A couple of old farts taking an equally old fart of an automobile across country in rapid fashion. Oh wait. Letʹs paint it bright yellow, put a wing on it, along with a bunch of decals, and drive it fast through mostly southern states. What could possibly go wrong? The weather looks like itʹll be behaving, with rain just at the beginning and partly cloudy the rest of the way. Iʹve been exercising the old bladder and doubled up on my saw palmetto extract to shrink the prostate. Must be working, went better than 7 hours this last bladder endurance test. All righty. Taking care of the bucket list before the old bucket gets too many more holes.

108 10‐31‐2017, markandson Iʹve been exercising the old bladder and doubled up on my saw palmetto extract to shrink the prostate. Must be working, went better than 7 hours this last bladder endurance test. Now thatʹs FUNNY.

10‐31‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Mike, Iʹll suggest a couple of other things...

Great suggestions. I have AAA Premium, so thatʹs done. The Find‐My‐Friends thing sounds interesting. Iʹll check.

Iʹll download Gas Buddy, although getting the best price is not a high priority here. Being close to the freeway with quick and easy in/out is.

10‐31‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: If you havenʹt already, contact Gene about... Will do, thanks.

10‐31‐2017, Mike Meier It looks like ʺFind My Friendsʺ is not at app you can install on your phone. You have to go to the Apps store to start it. Or so it seems.

The cage modifications got done today. I painted it tonight and started installing the cameras. Thatʹs going reasonably well.

Lots to do tomorrow, and tomorrow may be the last day I have the car before the shipper gets it. I could use one more day, but that always seems to be the case.

10‐31‐2017, First opel 1981 Iʹm curious who your shipper is.

There seems to still be a seat missing.

11‐01‐2017, irnbru Have you had a look at dashcam apps on your phone? Some seem to have lots of functions thatʹll be cool for documenting your journey

11‐01‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Iʹm curious who your shipper is.

109 Shipper is 2 Jʹs Auto Transport. I used uship to find them.

I was waiting for the paint to dry before installing the seat.

11‐01‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Have you had a look at dashcam apps...

Thanks for the suggestion. Iʹll take a look.

11‐01‐2017, Mike Meier The seat is in, roll bar padding is in, harness is in, added an iPhone mount. Now I can finish the camera installs, reinstall the windows, tend to a few minor mechanicals, then another test drive. It should be ready to ship tomorrow, although I still wouldnʹt mind having it for another day.

Itʹs a small car, and neither Don nor I are small guys. Weʹll be literally rubbing elbows for the whole trip.

I wasnʹt sure we could get a second Kirkey seat in the car, but after a little sheet metal bending we got it to fit.

11‐01‐2017, First opel 1981 Iʹve sat in your car. And Iʹm close to your size. Yes, itʹs going to be a very friendly visit with the two of you in there. Cozy, in fact.

Looking forward to the play by play of the trip.

11‐01‐2017, Don Michaelson Oh boy! One more week! Then weʹll be living every manly manʹs dream ‐ making good time enroute to no where in particular. Just like in the movies. In a scene from ʹNebraskaʹ, all the guys are sittinʹ around the living room, ʺWhenjah leave?ʺ ʺoh about 7 this morning.ʺ ʺOh, well, you made good time then.ʺ And on television, Jerry Seinfeldʹs George Castanza was very proud of making good time all the time. Iʹm thinking of getting a tattoo. Something my old pal Yogi Berra once said, ʺWeʹre lost, but weʹre making good time.ʺ I asked Mr. Google what he thought a good time would be for our scamper across the country. Mr. Google stated that two grannies in a Honda Civic could make it in 42 hours. But making good time is not something grannies ponder. Ainʹt that funny. Dudes, on the other hand, are continually rolling speed/distance/time/mpg numbers

110 around in their head. (at least in the tinyvetteʹs nerdy crewʹs heads.) Doing all that mental manipulation is what will be keeping us awake. Donʹt confuse making good time with having a good time. Did you see the pictures of the tinyvetteʹs interior? Thereʹs a reason itʹs called tinyvette. Ah well. Beats sittinʹ at home doinʹ crosswords. More later....

11‐01‐2017, Don Michaelson Interior looks most excellent Mike. That seat does recline right?

And a floor mat!

What, no cup holders?

11‐01‐2017, zippy7575 Quote: Mike, Iʹll suggest a couple of other things...

Not sure about the deluxe membership, but itʹs only 10 miles with the standard membership. Used mine recently and had to pay for a couple miles.

11‐01‐2017, zippy7575 Quote: We are definitely hoping to avoid snow...

Very cool, Mike! Very unusual to get snow in Northern AZ before Thanksgiving, though itʹs already getting below freezing at night in Flagstaff so anything is possible.

Break a leg... but most of all HAVE FUN!!

11‐01‐2017, slracer Quote: Not sure about the deluxe membership, but...

I just joined last week and AAA standard membership in AZ is now 5 miles towing. If you go ʺPlusʺ itʹs 100 miles and ʺPremierʺ is good for 200 miles.

https://membership.calstate.aaa.com/.../choose‐a‐plan

It says ʺcalstateʺ here but it is the page that comes up on az.aaa.com?

111 11‐01‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Not sure about the deluxe membership, but...

The membership that I had gave 100 miles of flatbed towing so I guess that it must have been an intermediate level of membership. I just upgraded to the Premier level, which has 200 free miles, because I have needed two tows recently and also have two old Sports cars. Premier is only a few dollars more than the plan I had.

11‐02‐2017, Mike Meier Iʹve got Premiere. Purchased it the same time I decided to drive the Tinyvette on the streets.

I got a lot done today. Seat install, with harness. Installed roll bar padding. Windows final install, and of course last minute modifications to improve fit and the sliding vent. Did a final inspection underneath and with about 150 miles on the engine there was nothing indicating a problem. I think I fixed the leak at the oil pressure sender.

I want to check timing and carb balance tomorrow. Otherwise, thereʹs nothing else to do on the motor.

The rear end has decided to start making noise, and best as I can tell it is coming from the pumpkin. I have another diff, condition unknown, in another car, and it would take me the better part of a day to swap them. The shipper is due tomorrow or Friday. I donʹt have many options here.

I played with the cameras for a long time. I have five, and I might use just four since the wide angle is enough to get both Don and I in the shot. I canʹt decide how I want to operate them. Using a remote I can turn on/off and start/stop recording on all cameras at once, but I canʹt see what they see. Using my iPhone I can turn each camera off/on and start/stop recording, and a lot more, but only one camera at a time. Iʹm leaning towards the latter because it is so easy to bump a camera and point it at the roof, etc.

With the windows in and one camera running I took the car out on the freeway. At night the camera doesnʹt catch much, but it can be interesting. Having the windows in is nice. Much reduced wind in the cockpit made things more comfy, but hardly any quieter. I was

112 hoping things would be a little quieter. But, it ran well at 80 mph (70 mph zone), roughly 3000 rpm in 5th. Iʹm looking forward to being able to really get it out on the highway.

At around midnight I started packing tools and parts. The usual wrenches and stuff, fuel pump, cap and rotor, plugs, and an electric pump and tire repair stuff, extra fuses, wire and crimp connectors, nuts and bolts for the windows. I had hoped to be able it to stow it all, two small bags, in the nose, but they wonʹt fit. I guess theyʹll go in my baggage.

Iʹll try to post the video of my highway test tomorrow.

11‐02‐2017, Mike Meier The shipper did not come or call today, so I called them, too late. They are on the east coast. Hopefully the car leaves tomorrow. I want to be in NYC by Wednesday, Thursday before dark at the latest.

I used the day to tidy up lots of little things, change camera mountings, etc. Other than the noise in the diff Iʹm feeling pretty good about this.

Hereʹs two minutes of the video I shot last night. Itʹs not interesting other than to see how the GoPros do at night, because weʹll be doing a lot of night driving. It turned out well, I think.

Video: https://youtu.be/zxnD‐5C77W4

11‐02‐2017, First opel 1981 Mike, the reason I asked about the shipper is because thereʹs a shipping company that the buyer of the pumpkin used and they totally screwed him. They quoted him $650 to ship the car and set the time and day to pick it up. Then NOTHING. The day came and went and they finally let him know that he would have to pay $1000 to get it shipped.

I looked the company up and it was their normal practice.

I hope you didnʹt get caught in this situation. Itʹs pretty common.

113 11‐03‐2017, Mike Meier I hope not either.

I went through uship, which I figured did a little vetting and would enforce their own rules.

The bid promised pickup within three days of booking and delivery within 4 days of pickup. Itʹs now day 3. I called and was told they are still trying to find a driver. So here I sit, having to stay close to home for when they do. That would be OK as long as the car gets to NYC in time.

Meanwhile, I guess I can do some more test runs with the cameras.

11‐03‐2017, kwschumm Quote: I hope not either.

Mike, I had the same issue with uShip. Shipper bid the job and I accepted. They were supposed to pick up within 4 days. On the fifth day they had still not found a driver. That seems like fraud to me, selling a service they cannot deliver.

I cancelled and relisted, this time finding an owner‐operator who had their own trucks. That guy did the job well. Now, on uShip, I only use owner‐operators, but then I normally ship only between Oregon and Washington. It may be difficult to find an owner‐operator who does cross country trips.

11‐03‐2017, First opel 1981 Exactly the same chain of events my buyer went through.

11‐03‐2017, Mike Meier Iʹm in the process of canceling the order. I called them to let them know and they asked for twenty minutes. Meanwhile I am working with another shipper.

2 Jʹs Auto Transport is family‐owned, but is also a broker, do not have their own trucks. They promised more than they can deliver.

Reviews for 2 Jʹs are mixed, but keep in mind they are a broker, not the trucking company that does the hauling for you. If a customer gets a hauler, things seem to go OK, otherwise...

114 https://www.transportreviews.com/Com...eviews/318183/

Most likely this will set me back another week. If it does that means Iʹll be able to fix the diff.

11‐03‐2017, Don Michaelson Hi ya Mikey , check your email. Thereʹs always that other option I was talking about. Driving coast to coast to coast. My bucket list runneth over.

11‐03‐2017, First opel 1981 FWIW, the company that actually picked up my GT was West Coast Auto Transport. The original company that did the bait and switch was called ʺMove Wheelsʺ. Look them up for reviews and you will see a lot of people who got the sam treatment.

They bid on U‐ship and then canʹt find a driver. Then they say for an extra few hundred dollars they will have driver in a couple days.

I donʹt think U‐Ship does any vetting.

11‐03‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: FWIW, the company that actually picked up my GT...

Thanks. Lesson learned. The whole shipping idea is off the table now anyway. Don called, and we chatted. See next post.

11‐03‐2017, Mike Meier Trouble with shippers, so the ʺHorrible Ideaʺ project is off. Replacing it is ʺHorrible Idea 2ʺ, which Don suggested above, and sounded like pure misery, two big‐ish guys in such a tiny car, no heat, no defroster, no reclining seats to make sleep easier. Nevertheless it sounded intriguing. Weʹd drive the Tinyvette out to NYC, then turn around and do the Cannonball back. After chatting about that a bit, the idea morphed into a Cannonball Loop, a non‐stop there‐and‐back, maybe starting at 24HOL world headquarters in Emeryville and ending in Redondo Beach. Of course, the details matter, one of those being a noisy diff. With Horrible Idea 2 Iʹd have time to fix it and start the run out in the middle of next week, roughly when we were scheduled to fly to NYC.

115 11‐03‐2017, First opel 1981 Youʹre asking a lot out of Tinyvette. Asking even more from your butt. LOL

Iʹm rooting for you.

11‐03‐2017, slracer Just a note that Seattle had some snow this morning and Lake Tahoe is expecting the rain there to turn to the white cold wet stuff tonight! Plan wisely!

Go for it! ‐‐ Doug

11‐04‐2017, Timbo Quote: Just a note that Seattle had some snow...

I didnʹt want to be the one that raised this specter but this could be an issue. It has been unusually warm in the East this Fall but that is changing this weekend. Iʹm sitting here looking at the radar weather map and there is snow up north. So even if you avoid snow, temperature control could be an issue. Iʹve driven long distance without heat in cold weather and it isnʹt fun. That was the same trip that we had to abandon our plans and hold up in a motel because of a blizzard.

I believe that sometimes **** happens for a reason. A reason for the shipper not coming through? It opens the door to other possibilities. A two‐way drive could be a lot of fun. You can also create a new time line. You want to do the run one‐way so that leaves the other leg open to new options. I would think that driving East could really be nice if you mapped out a more leisurely route that included stops at members along the way. That way you get to test the car out with a built‐in safety net and when you get to NY you will feel confident that you can make the run back. So you have time to fix the rear end. Not having a droning noise the whole trip provides some peace of mind which greatly improves enjoyment. And finally you could do this next Spring when the threat of snow will be diminished.

Just another option.

116 11‐04‐2017, kwschumm Quote: Just a note that Seattle had some snow...

Arenʹt race cars always are hot and noisy? Maybe heat wouldnʹt be a huge problem. Snow, on the other hand....

11‐04‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: I didnʹt want to be the one that raised this specter...

Stopping to visit Opelers along the route sounds interesting.

I donʹt subscribe to the ʺfor a reasonʺ notion, unless itʹs a cause and effect thing. But still, weʹve had to be flexible and weʹre managing that. Iʹm just glad all these changes in the schedule hasnʹt cost me a co‐driver.

11‐04‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Arenʹt race cars always are hot and noisy?

I am concerned about snow, the Tinyvette becoming a little yellow bobsled. If we had been able to start this on the originally scheduled date weʹd have been fine. But, now we have to deal with it. I got fresh tires on the rear, although they are not snow tires. Iʹve considered getting chains.

Don isnʹt worried about snow, having driven in it for years, but in a big rig. He says high wind and the attending loss in visibility are a bigger problem.

Iʹve located a diff and will off to get it within the hour. I should have it installed by dinner time tomorrow.

11‐05‐2017, Mike Meier The diff I picked up yesterday is not usable. Someone cut the panhard bar mount off. I guess I hit the road again to get another one.

Also, Jalopnik in interested in our story. I also pitched AARP, AAA, and Sunset (Donʹs suggestion). Jay Lammʹs response was along the lines of ʺMy God, you just keep thinking of interesting creative ways to hit yourself over the head with a hammer, donʹt you?ʺ

117 11‐05‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: The diff I picked up yesterday is not usable.

Mike, before you discard the replacement differential, count the gears. You never know. Plus. it could still have good bearings to rebuild the one in your car now.

11‐05‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Before you discard the replacement differential...

Yep. Iʹm keeping it for parts. I have two other partial diffs. I should be able to build a spare out of those parts.

11‐06‐2017, Mike Meier Heavy sigh.

I went to Stockton to get another diff. We ended up having to take it out of a car. Once back home I realized 1. it needed sway bar brackets, which requires a welder, which I donʹt have, and 2. it was from a ʹ69, a c‐clip style. I could put it in for the Cannonball, sans sway bar, but, it would have to come out again once we got back.

Stuff sucks.

I was about resigned to risking a 6,000 mile trip on a noisy diff. About then Kurt and Anna dropped in to bring me the GPS tracker. Kurt took the car out and pronounced it dead as far as this trip went. All of the options at that point were fairly low percentage and would require big favors.

We jacked up the car and dug deeper. Seems it was the pinion bearing. Weʹre screwed. Oh, and a wheel bearing. Why not? No wait, with the bad‐bearing axle out the ring and pinion sounded fine. The wheel bearing was the problem. It was probably damaged in our wreck at Buttonwillow. That wheel got hit.

The bearing is a press‐on and I donʹt have tools for that nor a replacement bearing, but I had other axles that were good. We cleaned up a spare, swapped out old stock lugs for newer longer ones, and now everything is going back together again.

Donʹt these things always happen at the last minute?

118 Iʹve still got a day to take care of this. We leave on Wednesday, from Lemons HQ, at about noon.

11‐06‐2017, Mike Meier Don, my co‐driver, has been watching the weather. It looks like weʹll be out of here before the next round of rain comes and we can expect clear skies most of the way to New York. Temperatures along the route will be another matter, expected to be in the 30ʹs during the day and 20ʹs at night. Weʹll have to do something not only about the windshield fogging but also icing up on the inside. Fortunately the car runs warm, the tunnels very warm to the touch and the area of the passenger feet can get hot enough to burn you badly. I have to repaint that area every year because the heat from the header burns it off. Iʹll have to put some heating system insulation or something on it.

Don and I did get the car out for a test drive, about 15‐20 miles. The car feels good, runs good, the Lexan windows are doing a great job. The car is still noisy. Weʹll definitely need ear plugs if we are going to get any sleep.

The plan at this time is to start out as if this will be a there‐and‐back Cannonball, but if it seems to be too much, weʹll relax the drive east, rest up, and make an earnest Cannonball run back to LA.

11‐06‐2017, Mike Meier Weʹll have a GPS tracker on board for this. Kurt uses it for his cross‐country hang gliding competitions. Heʹs loaned it to us for this project. Youʹll be able to see where we are via the site linked below, and I think, on Google Maps. Very cool. I just have to remember to turn it on.

Link: https://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=pS37J

11‐06‐2017, First opel 1981 A couple of these might work for defrosters

https://www.harborfreight.com/12v‐au...ght‐60525.html

Alternately, you could get a 1500 watt inverter and a space heater. (I wouldnʹt do it but thought Iʹd offer it up as an option)

119 11‐06‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: A couple of these might work for defrosters...

Iʹve looked into things like that, but they draw a lot of power and they donʹt actually defrost. Warm air on the windows would help, though.

11‐06‐2017, SpringGT Quote: The car is still noisy. Weʹll definitely need ear plugs...

Do you have any friends who are private pilots? If you could borrow two sets of electronic noise cancellation headsets it would really help and they only take a 9 volt battery. I have a set and they really eliminate the noise in an airplane cockpit!

If you donʹt know anyone who has them, you might be able to rent them at a flight school in your area.

11‐06‐2017, Don Michaelson Howdy folks,

So weʹre standing around looking at another fairly useless rear end after the second trip to Stockton. ʺLetʹs drive it around the block again,ʺ says Mike. ʺYa know, that doesnʹt sound real bad,ʺ says Don. ʺIʹve heard worse,ʺ said Mike. ʺAhh, ya know, we oughta go for it,ʺ says Don. So itʹs decided. Weʹre taking off, noisy diff. and all, trusting it for 6000 miles. ʺYou guys are freakinʹ crazy,ʺ said Kurt. (this from a guy that drives an upside‐down Camaro) People were already bettinʹ we wouldnʹt get outta California. Jeez. But itʹs good old Kurt showed up then he did. That noisy demon was exorcized and, once again, weʹre on track to take a leisurely drive through the countryside Wednesday sometime. I tried on the passenger seat. There is, like, no room. Although itʹs fairly comfortable once I slide in I sure hope I donʹt get an itch anywhere ʹcause itʹll be an itch I canʹt scratch. So, yeah, it looks like a noon departure from the east bay to get ahead of the rain coming Wednesday night.

All righty. Thatʹs it for now.

120 11‐07‐2017, slracer Quote: Do you have any friends who are private pilots?...

If you donʹt know a Harbor Freight some time back so I looked them up: https://www.harborfreight.com/noise‐...ffs‐92851.html

$15 and the ones I had worked a lot better than nothing. You can actually hear speech but the repetitive noise (ʺover 88dBʺ) is reduced. The ad also says ʺcompare to Cabelaʹs K‐232299 @ $22ʺ so there is an alternative.

11‐07‐2017, Don Michaelson Hello good people,

Gosh, Iʹll tell ya. Iʹm as giddy as a schoolgirl goinʹ out on her first date. Mike just called. The bearing transplant took. Tinyvette is straining at the reins, ready to get this party started.

I got everything I need packed in a 10lb. potato bag. (designer luggage by Ore‐Ida) I trimmed my beard. I donʹt know but it seems like thereʹs more room now. At least itʹs not gettinʹ tangled up in the seat belt anymore.

Got to leave home tomorrow at about six soʹs we can get to Oakland for a proper send off at 24 hours of LeMons headquarters on or about 12 noon.

Thatʹs all for now.

See you on the other side......

11‐07‐2017, kwschumm Tinyvette is unsinkable!

11‐08‐2017, Mike Meier The Tinyvette is ready.

Iʹm so glad I didnʹt ship it last Friday.

Today ‐ finished the diff, bled the rear brakes, checked timing and carb balance, Rain‐Xʹed the windshield, in and out, covered the hot spot in the passenger foot‐well, adjusted the passenger side harness,

121 rigged up four 4ʺ computer fans to blow air on the windshield. It might help with fogging. And I spent a lot of time testing the cameras. Exasperating, but I got them to work together.

I took the car out again tonight, about 20 miles, temperatures in the mid‐50ʹs. Everything was good, and I found a few drafts I took care of when I got back, along with a few rattles. The oil temps do not come up so Iʹll block the oil cooler. (We took the thermostat off.) Other than that, itʹs time to shove our gear through the rear quarter windows and be off.

Video worked well, except it is really difficult to hear me talk. I think I have a solution. Anyway, a few screen shots below.

I just need to finish the route description now, except it is already pretty late. Iʹll try to finish it tomorrow and post it.

11‐08‐2017, Mike Meier Don will be here soon.

The car is ready. I just need to clear the memory on the cameras.

Iʹm still packing, but I wonʹt be bringing much.

Use the link a few posts earlier if you want to follow our progress. Weʹll start the tracking device when we leave Emeryville, at close to noon.

Hereʹs my phone if you need to contact me in‐route: 707‐776‐7145

Our route is attached. West‐to‐East is basically GoogleMaps suggested route using I‐80. East‐to‐West is the route suggested by Craig, I‐81 to Knoxville, I‐40 to California.

Wish us luck.

11‐08‐2017, Gary Interesting route Mike. Will follow your journey. Best wishes for a safe and uneventful trip. Post here or on Facebook if you run into trouble. There are many Opelers out there.

Wave at Carlisle on your return trip through PA.

122 11‐08‐2017, Timbo Donʹt be afraid to take a more southerly route. https://www.yahoo.com/gma/arctic‐col...opstories.html

11‐08‐2017, markandson Holy smokes! I missed the post about Horrible Idea 2. Good luck Mike & Don. You will be running south of me in both directions so little chance of a wave on the way by. 6000 miles.....you guys are nutz!!

11‐08‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Don will be here soon. Use the link...

The tracking link in post # 146 shows that you are still in Sacramento. Anyone else having this problem?

11‐08‐2017, dsmith Yep, same here. Is it automatic or do they have to manually update it?

11‐08‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Yep, same here. Is it automatic or...

I thought that it updated automatically once they turn on their tracking device.

11‐08‐2017, First opel 1981 Maybe they just havenʹt made it out of Sacramento yet.

I really hope thatʹs not the case.

11‐08‐2017, RallyBob Facebook updates show them just outside of Battle Mountain, Nevada. Progress is being made.

11‐08‐2017, Gary Hereʹs the link to their live feed:

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/...YtI5F1Rqz5Mvbs

11‐08‐2017, MICAH1 Looks like Team Tinyvette may have a fast moving snow shower

123 ahead of them coming into Utah.

11‐09‐2017, Timbo Looks like they are doing around 84 mph. I used this to get the miles between two points. Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculator Iʹm sure the time between points and miles are rounded so this is an estimate.

11‐09‐2017, opelnut_1 Looks like the cold got to them an they had to add a heater to the inventory.

I tried the windows down on the way to work to see just how cold it would be in my Volvo and forget that heat would be a priority!!

Looks like fun though.

11‐09‐2017, First opel 1981 Itʹs 24 degrees in Cheyenne. I hope Mike put something other than straight water in the engine.

Brrrrrrr.

11‐09‐2017, opelnut_1 Probably ok as long as they don’t have a long shutdown.

11‐09‐2017, First opel 1981 I was 19 when I drove my 63 Ford Fairlane about 30 miles from my girlfriends house to mine. It was 20 degrees and I didnʹt know antifreeze worked or how. I had pure water in the system. At about the 20 mile mark my car was sputtering and having issues. Turned out that the radiator had froze solid except for the cap area. Thatʹs where my overheating (cuz no flow through a block of ice) had boiled over and my carb had sucked in enough water to create a glacier in the throat.

I had to wait for the engine heat to thaw the ice and then limped home about three miles at a shot.

11‐09‐2017, GTRoy Mike has spent some of his life in the north‐east so he may remember how to deal with freezing weather. A piece of cardboard covering ½ or more of the radiator can help prevent coolant freezing, but

124 antifreeze is safer.

Maybe letting the hood be open an inch would send hot air onto the windshield (only if no oil leaks with it ).

Mike and Don... what an Adventure ! Bring back some good stories to share with us envious stay‐at‐homes.

11‐09‐2017, First opel 1981 The map shows they only went a couple miles in an hour.

I donʹt know how accurate the updates are but they are just outside of Des Moines. Halfway between Des Moines and Iowa City.

Itʹs the low 20ʹs out there.

I bet they wondering what the hell they signed up for.

11‐09‐2017, slracer Quote: Mike has spent some of his life in the north‐...

Roy, thereʹs a new Cars & Coffee in my neighborhood on Saturday. Would that be exciting? ‐‐ Doug

11‐09‐2017, MICAH1 Well, Mike and Don are rocking on I‐80 approaching Gary, Indiana. I would guess if all is well, they should roll into New York City around noon tomorrow. What the guy says on Velocity...... itʹs a ʺBITCHING RIDEʺ.

11‐10‐2017, zippy7575 No updates for several hours now. Mid‐20s and snow showers in Chicago. Perhaps they stopped for the night?

11‐10‐2017, Paul M Wondering the same thing...... was hoping to park on an I‐80 overpass with my Opel and cheer them on. I am only a couple of miles from one with a good vantage point.

11‐10‐2017, dsmith They posted on Facebook that they had to stop in Chicago and get a room and warm up and rest. The cold is taking a toll on them.

125 Starting out again this morning.

11‐10‐2017, markandson It is supposed to be brutally cold the next 2 days here with winds today at 50‐55mph and a wind chill of about 17 degrees. They need a source of heat.

11‐10‐2017, Timbo I wonder if the chemical heat packs would help. Time for a drone drop. I had to drive 12 hours in a moving truck with no heat and similar temperatures. Even with access to coats and blankets, it just gets numbing.

11‐10‐2017, slracer All gone! OOPS!

11‐10‐2017, slracer Quote :Hereʹs the link to their live feed...

Just wanted to bump the link to a new page! ‐‐ Doug

11‐10‐2017, crliwa I flew from Arizona to Milwaukee yesterday. The temp was 80 when I left and in the low 20ʹs when I got here. The boys have got to be freezing. Iʹm not far from Pete Anastosis dealership. Iʹm planning on seeing him tomorrow ..... too bad the guys couldnʹt include a detour to include Peteʹs.

I normally drive Chicago to NY in 15 hours. Iʹve done the trip on my way to AZ via Wisconsin so I can see my Daughterʹs family. I did it once in my S10 towing the Car and Driver Opel 1900. The heat gave out leaving New Mexico at high altitude in sub freezing weather. The snow on 80 in Flagstaff had it down to 1 lane with me trying to stay in the tracks of the big rigs. A tough trip. I did buy a space heater at a truck stop that helped a little...very little. When I finally got to Phx all I had to do was reverse flush the cooling system and everything was fine for my drive back to NY. and to left AZ.

I wonʹt be back into NYC til Monday night...Iʹm guessing that Mike will have already started back????

126 11‐10‐2017, GTRoy Iʹm sure everyone on this site has seen photos and video of Mikeʹs Tinyvette. Maybe not all are familiar with Donʹs Opel Sport Wagon or his past. Take a look and note the ʺSouth Pole Station Antarcticaʺ on the rear window.

Don, did you know back then that you were training for this Cannonball Run ??

11‐10‐2017, MICAH1 The dynamic duo has sped past Elmore, Ohio barreling along I‐90/80 just off Lake Erie kissing the Canadian winter passing through. Whatʹs the word of the day...... Rolling,,Rolling, through!!!!

11‐10‐2017, MICAH1 Team Tinyvette (Don and Mike) now have official ʺPOLAR BEARʺ status...... Itʹs 23 degrees in Youngstown, Ohio as they pass through.

11‐10‐2017, GTRoy Tinyvette was approaching Clintonville, PA when I last checked.

Mapquest calculates distance to NYC as 350 miles, about 5½ hrs drive time.

NYC forecast 50* this weekend, kind of balmy by comparison with last 1000 miles !

I may be the only person on earth without Facebook. Have Mike or Don posted anything today ?

11‐10‐2017, First opel 1981 They recently drove past Punxutawny PA.

Groundhog Day flashbacks.

11‐10‐2017, First opel 1981 Looks like they just got gas in Bloomsburg at the Shell station. They were there for quite a while. Maybe had a Subway sammich and got warm.

The map shows they are on the road again.

127 Crazy guys. They were right next to a Holiday Inn Express and itʹs flipping cold!

11‐10‐2017, Gary They are more than 3/4 through PA and will stop in NJ for the night. NY tomorrow morning and then start the return.

Hereʹs Mikeʹs latest Facebook post. (Screen shot)

11‐11‐2017, GTRoy Thanks Gary. Makes me cold just to think about it. The song ʺCalifornia Dreaminʹʺ comes to mind.

Cheers to Team Tinyvette !!!

11‐11‐2017, slracer Quote: Thanks Gary. Makes me cold just to think about

Roy, if the timing isnʹt too bad, are you still thinking about a ʺwelcoming waveʺ from Flagstaff area? Let me know!

11‐11‐2017, GTRoy Doug, Yes , if Tinyvette can do it on I 40 or I 10 we should be able to wave them on.

We do have heaters !... Even heated seats, not needed here very often.

Mike and Don probably chilled to the core yesterday, what a Polar adventure.

Keep Warm my friends ! You will be in sunny California soon.

11‐11‐2017, slracer ʺ 20 SECONDS agoʺ they were in NYC!

Wouldnʹt take me long to get back on the road headed WEST!

11‐11‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: ʺ 20 SECONDS agoʺ they were in NYC

I think their Facebook post said theyʹd have a small celebration

128 before starting the official cannonball.

I hope they take part of that time to warm up and check the fluids.

11‐11‐2017, slracer Quote: Doug, Yes , if Tinyvette can do it on I‐40 or I‐10...

Roy, at first glance, the S Woody Mountain Rd crosses OVER I‐40 between exit 192 just west of I‐17 which gives them a ʺmilepostʺ so would be easy for the boys to see! About the only overpass in the area as I‐40 is usually the one going over. Maybe Cam could take a look and see if pedestrian traffic is allowed on the bridge and then join in the celebration? What do you say, Cam?

Albuquerque to Flagstaff is 327 miles so if we can check the progress, we should be on the road north about then (327/71.3+ ~ 4.5 hours). The average speed from Penn to OK border (E) is 71.3 mph per their plans! My house to I‐17 & I‐40 is about 2‐1/2 hours (per Google) would say that we should allow 3 to get in place and figure that they might make it closer to 4 (higher speed limits in TX). Weʹll have to follow the progress and decide when to actually leave. A plan is coming together!

PS ‐ Do you have Camʹs phone number?

11‐11‐2017, First opel 1981 They appear to be on the official run now. I was hoping to catch them on a traffic cam but they waited til dark to leave.

They are coming up on a couple traffic cams on I‐78 but itʹs too dark to tell any car from another.

Seems like they are making good time, too.

11‐11‐2017, Gary They are approaching the Carlisle exit on Rt 81 in PA.

Headed home.

11‐11‐2017, dsmith I thought about trying to run with them for a few miles on 81 in Pa, but I didn’t think I could find them in the dark. They are doing

129 something I can only dream about.

11‐11‐2017, First opel 1981 I just tried to do math and it looks like they are going about 75 miles per hour.

99 minutes to go 117 miles, give or take.

11‐11‐2017, slracer Quote: I just tried to do math and it looks like...

I used the planned numbers of NYC to the AR/OK border (1384 miles and 19‐2/3 hours) and got an average of 70.3 mph including all stops. The overall distance of 2835 miles (entering LA traffic) and 39‐1/3 hours gives just over 72 mph. Mike didnʹt do all the numbers between OK and CA so I was using those numbers to determine when they will be passing through Flagstaff (GTRoy and I were planning on being there and waving a flag or something). However, using the 4 PM start time in NYC and the 70.3 mph puts him ʺin Flagstaffʺ about 12:30 AM. If I use the 72.0 mph overall and work backwards from ʺthe CA border near Needles, AZʺ, Flagstaff is closer to 2:30 AM. Either way it will be quite dark so Iʹm rethinking the 2‐1/2 hour trip to Flagstaff (one way) from my home in Scottsdale.

11‐11‐2017, zippy7575 Quote: I used the planned numbers...

Hey Doug, Roy e‐mailed me. Iʹd be up for joining you but I have company until about 10:00 a.m. Monday morning. If it turns out to be after that for some reason Iʹll meet you at wherever you decide. Iʹm not familiar with any overpasses near Flag that allow foot traffic, but seems to me theyʹll have to stop in Flagstaff for gas, as itʹs a lot of miles of no gas stations on each side of Flagstaff. The hard part is knowing where. Do they have cell phones where we could text them?

11‐11‐2017, Kyler Norman If they pass through Oklahoma City tomorrow I’ll try and intercept them and drive along in my GT for a few miles.

130 11‐12‐2017, slracer Iʹm trying to estimate the arrival at Flagstaff so that (if it makes sense) GTRoy and I might see them (or as Cam said MEET them at a gas stop as the stations are somewhat spaced west of there). My numbers were not making any sense until I realized that the ʺtimeʺ shown on the tracker was MST (for me)! Any how, I put together this spreadsheet to get an update on ETA. Right away, it was wrong (until I saw a 30 minute stop in Parkerʹs Crossing, TN). I will update at repost near the cities listed as the day progresses, but 6:30AM in Flagstaff (where we can see and be seen from I‐40) is pretty dark! If you see anything wrong here, let me know! ‐‐ Doug

11‐12‐2017, GTRoy Team Tinyvette has taken the northern I ‐40 route, (rather than I‐10 bad weather alternate), no precipitation is forecast.

According to MapQuest, Clarksville AR to Flagstaff AZ is about 1,100 miles and about 15 hours driving time. That would have Tinyvette passing Flagstaff 5 ‐6 a.m. Monday. Not a good chance of seeing them, or of them seeing us. If they make it a fuel pit stop it would be only a few minutes unless food included.

I donʹt think it will work for me, it is close to 5 hrs R T drive with not much possibility of even a good photo. Sorry.

11‐12‐2017, jmbinjax Quote: Hereʹs the link to their live feed...

I find myself checking their status a every chance I get.

11‐12‐2017, Kyler Norman Iʹm about to leave to intercept them at the I‐40/240 interchange in my GT If all goes well I will post a video tonight!

11‐12‐2017, MICAH1 Run with them...... Show your GT up close!!!!

11‐12‐2017, slracer My tracking to Flagstaff update: Currently estimating about an hour and 15 minutes behind published schedule. Gap is growing. The guys are getting tired or ??

131 See attached. ‐‐ Doug

Arrival in Flagstaff is close to 8:00 AM now.

Keep watching. Next couple of checkpoints will tell!

Is there any communication channel with the car/drivers? If there is a fuel stop planned for Flagstaff, it still might be worth taking the drive! Leave here about 5 AM as of the current schedule.

Attached Files Attached Files File Type: xls Cannonball progress‐3.xls (10.0 KB, 7 views)

11‐12‐2017, Gary Quote: If they pass through Oklahoma City tomorrow...

They went through OKC 20 minutes ago. (7:23 EST)

11‐12‐2017, First opel 1981 Looking at the map it looks like they hit traffic or stopped for gas right before OKC.

11‐12‐2017, Gary Quote: Looking at the map it looks like they hit traffic or stopped...

They did a driver change in Okemah. (wherever that is...)

11‐12‐2017, Kyler Norman Let me tell you, it is not easy to intercept these guys. It is pretty sketchy sitting on the side of I‐40 in the Opel and those guys are making some speed from town to town. We had a chair thrown at us from an overloaded trailer and miss by only a few feet too!

I only stuck with them for a minute. I didn’t want to bother them too much and they ended up exiting when I went to get a nice drive by video shot. The car looks great and they are chugging along! I sent them a good luck message and hauled butt back to Norman OK!

Here’s my video. I wish I would have started filming right before they passed. We were sitting after an on ramp in the grass and we took off quick!

132 https://youtu.be/CehWyiHtal0

11‐12‐2017, MICAH1 Way to go Kyler, and friend!!!! Iʹm sure Mike and Don appreciated the company of seeing one of the website members riding along side and recording part of their epic cross‐country and back Cannonball Run trek!!! Thanks for placing the video for us to see.

11‐12‐2017, zippy7575 Good job, Kyler! Theyʹre near Shamrock, TX as I write this, which is about ten hours from Flagstaff AZ. That should put them in Flag at around 6 a.m. local (MST) perhaps a little later depending on fuel stops. I wonʹt be able to make it, but looks like Roy & Doug are still planning to try an intercept.

11‐12‐2017, dsmith Great job on getting a visual on the dynamic duo Kyler!

11‐12‐2017, Kyler Norman Quote: They did a driver change in Okemah. (wherever that is...)

Okemah is where Woody Guthrie is from!

11‐12‐2017, zippy7575 Now looking like 6:30 a.m. in Flag if they stick to the speed limits and donʹt make any stops (unlikely), but 7:30 a.m. or thereabouts based on their average speed. Iʹd guess that their average will pick up now though as the speed limits are higher in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona than what they have been for them, but Dougʹs earlier prediction of 8 a.m. could be pretty close.

11‐12‐2017, slracer Quote: Good job, Kyler! Theyʹre near Shamrock TX...

I think Roy & I threw in the towel! At 6 AM there wont be enough light to see them coming. As you pointed out, not too many vantage points to catch I‐40 where a pedestrian can safely stand and still get on the road to catch up.

Iʹm getting all screwed up with different time zones (on spotme, EST start, MST end and CST in between. Last point that I believed was OK City at 7:23 EST (5:23 MST). Iʹll work the ETA again, but I donʹt

133 think I can make it (and still be married on Tuesday)!

11‐12‐2017, Kyler Norman Quote: I think Roy & I threw in the towel!...

Itʹs tough to see them on I‐40 for sure. Pretty nerve racking sitting on the shoulder in a tiny Opel with 85 mph traffic going by in the dark too.

11‐12‐2017, GTRoy Tinyvette ...Okemah ..OHC...W.G. Rt 66 & I40

Tinyvette is in the Land of Enchantment as I write this, maybe in Tucumcari when I finish. Seeing Tinyvette go by on a Cannonball Run would be a once in a lifetime experience that I will regret missing as long as I have my memory...well maybe not that long then, ha ha.

Kyler, thanks for making the effort, and recording and sharing it with all of us. Great to see and hear that.

btw your car sounds good !

Okemah OK was one of my unscheduled stops on my drive East this summer. Itʹs not Hollywood but there in one ʹstarʹ in the sidewalk in front of the Crystal theater, a park next door with a statue of Woody and a mural on a wall. His childhood home is gone, but a tree in the ex front yard is carved into a memorial of sorts.

I‐40 has replaced the old Rt 66 in several Western states. But the depression, the dust bowl and the road West was the subject of many of Woody Guthrieʹs songs.

And because this is a car forum let me mention that Tinyvette stopped in Okemah on itʹs historic ride, and that there is a monthly car show at the Hen House Cafe.

11‐12‐2017, slracer Through Amarillo and into NM, picked up a little time but my numbers still look screwy. Flagstaff still looks like very early morning! Progress toward Santa Rosa and Albuquerque continues!

134 Attached Files Attached Files File Type: xls Cannonball progress‐4.xls (10.0 KB, 10 views)

11‐12‐2017, norbertone.gt371 Wow, great job Kyler with the video.

11‐13‐2017, zippy7575 Quote: Through Amarillo and into NM, picked up...

Theyʹre almost to Flagstaff now at 7:17 a.m., so your original estimate of 8 a.m. was pretty darned close, Doug.

11‐13‐2017, slracer Crossed into CA about 10:08 AM (MST). On the home stretch! Way to go guys!

11‐13‐2017, GTRoy 6 Days on the Road

About 3 hours to Redondo Beach ! 60s* ‐ 70s* , Team is warm by now.

Is the Welcoming Committee ready ?

This is a trucker song, but they have seen a million trucks on this run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWb_QxYDM0

11‐13‐2017, slracer 1:05 pm MST ‐ Headed into Victorville, CA which is about 100 miles from Redondo Beach and the Portofino Inn (AT THE BEACH)! The bad news is this is where ʺLA Trafficʺ starts! To me, having lived about 10 miles from Redondo Beach for 32 years, the next 100 miles (about 2 hours with good traffic) is why this whole experience was a ʺHorrible Ideaʺ!

Very impressive bit of driving and perseverance!

11‐13‐2017, markandson Looks like the whiney rear made it 6000 miles

135 11‐13‐2017, GTRoy The Cannonball Team may have saved some time on the (toll) CA ‐91 Express Lane. Unlike Eastern TurnPikes.. California put the FREE in Freeways. Tolls are only for bridges ( 9 or 10 in the Bay Area) in Nor Cal, Mikeʹs Transponder will work on the 91.

Team Tinyvette... we are all proud of you !

11‐13‐2017, MICAH1 These guys deserve a great meal and a lot of beer!!!!!!!!!

11‐13‐2017, Gary At the finish line!

11‐13‐2017, kwschumm Congratulations to the duo! And also the Tinyvette, the tiny car with a big heart.

11‐13‐2017, Kyler Norman Horrible Idea

Congrats to you guys! Tinyvette can no longer be considered a lemon now. That car (and you guys) survived 6000? miles of near constant driving at highway speeds.

I bet you broke a couple Opel world records, as I bet no one has driven coast to coast to coast in an Opel in anywhere near that amount of time.

11‐13‐2017, The Scifi Guy Awesome achievement guys!

Am I correct in assuming that, at least during their eastern leg, they drove through gosh awful rain and the Arctic Blast? Kylerʹs video looked like rain down there in Texas/Oklahoma, too.

11‐13‐2017, dsmith Glad you are back safe and sound. What an epic ride!

136 11‐13‐2017, Kyler Norman Quote: Awesome achievement guys!...

No rain in Oklahoma, just cloudy.

11‐13‐2017, GTRoy I talked to Mike briefly at about 4:00 pm today. He said thereʹs nothing to do in L.A. ha ha, so we will just drive home. Well I assumed he meant tomorrow, but Tinyvette is on the 405 North. May be on 5 North by the time you read this, its about 400 miles to Sacramento where neither Mike nor Don live but within driving distance.

...Are these guys robots that donʹt need sleep ?!

11‐13‐2017, First opel 1981 Quote: I talked to Mike briefly at about 4:00 pm today...

Sometimes after the longest trip, your own bed is the best place in the world.

11‐13‐2017, kwschumm Quote: I talked to Mike briefly at about 4:00 pm today...

I wouldnʹt want to do that drive in LA rush hour if I just woke from a 24 hour sleep!

11‐13‐2017, mcenhillk Congratz!!!!

I got way more wrapped up in this than made any sense. I donʹt even own an Opel yet and there I was at work this morning hitting refresh every 5m.

11‐13‐2017, zippy7575 Awesome job, guys!!! Iʹd be scared to drive my Opel 100 miles these days for fear something would break. I canʹt even imagine doing 6,000 miles... most of it non‐stop, in a car with no heat. Amazing!

11‐13‐2017, GTRoy Team Tinyvette is about half way home from L.A. They apparently can keep going without sleep. I am only monitoring the adventure

137 but I need sleep, must sleep.

This tracking thing they have is amazing, zoom in , go to street view, and you can see the road they are on and view the terrain. Itʹs almost like being along for the ride ! Without the noise and cramped quarters.

One suggestion to team Tinyvette; Rest on your laurels, Sleep in tomorrow.

Good night ZZZZZZ

11‐14‐2017, slracer Houston, The Eagle has Landed! Thatʹs one Tiny(vette) step for mankind, one impressively LARGE leap for Opeldom!

Congrats for a job well done Mike & Don!

Coming soon at your local TV set? ......

11‐14‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Hereʹs the link to their live feed:...

Thanks, Gary. I wasnʹt able to post here during our run.

11‐14‐2017, Mike Meier I just read the recent posts. With a tiny happy tear in my eye, a big heartfelt thanks.

As tired as we were on the way home from LA last night it was a great drive, too. I joked with Don about continuing on to Seattle, which at this point seemed like the natural thing to do. In fact, the notion of waking up in the morning and not spending the rest of the day elbow‐to‐elbow in the Tinyvette felt unnatural.

Iʹll be a while processing all this before I post much about it.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Hey I saw that chair! Briefly.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Hi ya Kyler, neat video. Like I said, we were goinʹ nowhere and in no

138 real hurry to get there. Would have liked to chew on about Opels for a while. (our buttbones were always ready with an excuse to get outta those seats.) Maybe next time. Next time in Oklahoma! Ho, thatʹs funny.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: Through Amarillo and into NM, picked up a little time...

We were in Needles in the morning I think. Only because while gettinʹ gas I got some hostess doughnuts and chocolate milk. What normal person doesnʹt have that for breakfast?

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: My tracking to Flagstaff update...

Yeah, well, that was probably when I woke up to wake Mike up and tell him to shift gears.

11‐14‐2017, Kyler Norman Quote: Hi ya Kyler, neat video. Like I said, we were goinʹ...

I would have loved to stop and chat. We didnʹt notice you exiting until too late, unfortunately. Give me a call sometime and we can talk opels!

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote : 1:05 pm MST ‐ Headed into Victorville, CA...

Doug, being from southern Calif. I wasnʹt looking forward to this part of it. I donʹt know, but I think, in Mikeʹs scheming and continually crunching the numbers way, he figured out how to get my shifts to fall in the cities. Anyway, imagine my excitement and delight that word had been passed that we were on our way through town. The way was cleared all the way to where the 110 and 405 come together. About that time we were out of gas. And being from so. cal., you donʹt get off the freeways! We did find a gas station, but danged if we could find our way back on one of them important freeways. My brother, tracking, asked later, ʹwhy did you get off the freeway? You never get off the freeway.ʹ Oy. (Oh dear. Must be that bagel I had a couple days ago.)

139 11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: The Cannonball Team may have saved some time...

That thing never did work. We stopped at one toll booth back east, I asked, ʺwhy ainʹt this thing workinʹ?ʺ ʺLet me see it,ʺ said the nice toll booth lady. It was attached to the rollbar. ʺThere it is, right there.ʺ ʺWell, let me see it.ʺ ʺWill a credit card work?ʺ

Mikeʹs rich, he can afford tolls.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: The Cannonball Team may have saved some time...

It must have been because of Vetʹs day or something but the traffic was a delight. I didnʹt realize how small L.A. actually is, Itʹs just that passing through at the speed of a slow walk tends to make it feel a whole lot bigger. Eww, more later on the time speed continuum thing later. Iʹll be doinʹ up my essay later on who this was really swell but not so much so that Iʹd consider doing it again....on a bet... well, maybe.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: These guys deserve a great meal and a lot of beer!!!!!!!!!

Ahh, man. Iʹll tell ya. sittinʹ out there watchinʹ the boats bobbinʹ around. Had me a truck driver kinda meal of one french fry and a shrimp, one of the big ones, not one of those shrimpy shrimps, I was hungry.

Ahh, but the beer. Had an Anchor Steam. Yum. To be honest, wasnʹt really thinkinʹ about the end of the road beer in Joliet. I donʹt think Iʹve ever been that cold.... and I worked in the Antarctic for better than 10 years.

So yeah. Nothinʹ like that first beer after a long drive.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: Congrats to you guys! Tinyvette can no longer...

Ahh shucks. Tell it to my butt. No I mean, thatʹs the only real hurtinʹ that we both realized on the trip. Iʹve done 300 mile drives that make me hurt all over for days after. But this one, itʹs just my buttbone. I

140 havenʹt checked but I really think itʹs black & blue down there.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: I wouldnʹt want to do that drive in LA rush hour...

Like I said earlier, I think he had this planned all along. So there I am, sorry, we are, (but heʹs in the passenger seat) on the 405 north, at 4:30....Iʹll wait while you wipe away your tears.

ʺIt is what it is, deal with it,ʺ says Mike in his most zenlike way.

ʺOk, ok, youʹre right, I must chill.ʺ

ʺBut I really donʹt want to be here.ʺ

So we made the 18 mile journey, which people do, everyday, 5 days a week, for 20 or so years, in a little over an hour. Iʹd be opening a vein if I had to do that everyday.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: One suggestion to team Tinyvette; Rest on your laurels..

Is that what you call your butt?

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: Being from southern Calif. I wasnʹt looking forward..

I donʹt know, but I think, in Mikeʹs scheming and continually crunching the numbers way, he figured out how to get my shifts to fall in the cities. Anyway, imagine my excitement and delight that word had been passed that we were on our way through town. The way was cleared all the way to where the 110 and 405 come together. About that time we were out of gas. And being from so. cal., you donʹt get off the freeways! We did find a gas station, but danged if we could find our way back on one of them important freeways. My brother, tracking, asked later, ʹwhy did you get off the freeway? You never get off the freeway.ʹ Oy. (Oh dear. Must be that bagel I had a couple days ago.) Three of our fuel stops were made with less than a gallon in the tank. For this one we had 0.7 left. Later that night, on the way home, we stopped with 0.3 gallons left. That little Arduino gizmo I built to monitor our gauges saved our butts.

141 11‐14‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: It must have been because of Vetʹs day or something..

Four Corners! We discussed this. Donʹt break my heart!!!

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: Three of our fuel stops were made with less than a gallon...

Our butts may have been saved but they sure got bruised.

11‐14‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: Four Corners! We discussed this. Donʹt break my heart!!!

The only four corners Iʹm thinkinʹ of has to do with tightly tucked in flannel sheets.

11‐14‐2017, First opel 1981 Arduino gizmo?

Please elaborate. I have a handful of UNOʹs with no assigned purpose.

11‐14‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Arduino gizmo?...

This deserves another thread, which Iʹll start soon, but basically it is an UNO plus an I/O board I made for it. The I/O board has voltage dividers for the gauge inputs (I tap a signal off the input pin on each gauge) and a relay for the main warning light. Other D‐out lines control LEDs that tell you which gauge to look at.

11‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Home again home again jiggity jig

Well thank goodness Iʹve gotten that folly checked off the bucket list. Got back yesterday morning. The air was filled with excited yips and happy barks. When the dogs noticed I was home they got excited too. I left the hermitage last Wednesday at 6:00 in the morning and returned yesterday (Tues.) at noon not quite one week later. ʺIʹm headinʹ for New York City for a bagel.ʺ I tell Diana as I head out the door. ʺBe sure to pick up some milk and bread on your way back.ʺ she says. And thatʹs what I did. We left Oakland noon Wednesday

142 headinʹ east on I‐80 in a car that wasnʹt really meant to do anything like this with two old‐timers, also built to do nothing like this. In the quest to keep things simple, packing extra garments werenʹt even considered. (I did pack a pair of shorts though???)

We realized the error of our ways ʹlong about the 7500 foot level in Wyoming. Did I mention there was no heat in the tinyvette? This problem lingered from Wyoming to Joliet, Ill where we deemed it necessary that we find someplace warm or theyʹd be pulling our dead frozen bodies out of the car alongside I‐80 somewhere.

After a drop‐dead away sleep at the La Quinta in town we were ready for another go at it. The heater we bought outside of Des Moines lasted no more than about 6 hours. 300 watts was no match for the 12* outside and burned itself up. The next day I bought a heap of those chemical hand‐warmers. Putting 2 alongside the jugulars and 2 alongside the femoral arteries and I was good to go. Oh yeah, I put a couple in my converse all‐stars to keep my tootsies cozy.

The first leg of the trip was to feel things out. To see how hard this could possibly be in preparation for the real deal, the Cannonball Run, from New York City to Redondo Beach, California. Hey, we can do this! was the shared thought at the time. We stopped in Fairfield, N.J. for the night and gather up our energy for the dash back home.

And now for the absolute stupidest overlooked part of the trip. First off, never ever drive into New York City. Secondly, if you do have to drive into the city never ever do it when thereʹs a parade planned. Vetʹs Day Parade in NYC is a big draw, people on top of people are here for the festivities. From the Lincoln tunnel exit to the Red Ball Parking garage, where the original Cannonball Run started, was an easy 8 block trip, 31st street down to Park, turn left, go a block, and turn into the garage. 3 blocks into our 8 block trip we are forced to turn left down Avenue of the Americas. The parade had cut the town in half from about 10th to 58th. Here we were at about halfway in between. Long story shortened, we were in traffic for 3 hours to go 8 blocks. “It is what it is,ʺ Mike kept saying.

There was no parking of any type. There was no where to pull over and take a break. The nearest thing I can compare it to is falling off a boat in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. ʺIt is what it

143 is.ʺ he kept saying. All the videos he shot of the experience will be no good due to my foul language being uttered almost continually.

Some of the cars had big rubber pads strapped to their bumpers called bully bumpers. They make total sense with the way one has to drive there. If you leave ANY gap or show any hesitation youʹve lost a car length to someone else. One car length equates to minutes.

In our round about route we passed Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, ABC studios, NBC Studios, (Mike wondered aloud if maybe David Letterman might come out and say hi.) ʺDo you watch a whole lot of television Mike? Letterman hasnʹt been on for like 3 years.ʺ

So, other than the miserable traffic, whatʹd I think of New York you might ask. Well, from my vantage point, (about as high as a go kart seat) all I saw of NYC were people from the knees to the waist, and really, really big bus bumpers at eye level. So anyway, we round the last corner, from Park on to 31st, a one lane, one way street. Weʹre in the left turn lane, I breath a HUGE sigh of relief when I see the PARK sign with an arrow pointing to the entrance four car lengths away. Did I mention there was 4 lanes of traffic plus anyone else that wanted to attempt it trying to get down this one lane street? 17 minutes, yes, 17 minutes later we finally pull into the Red Ball Garage.

Whew! Just thinkinʹ about it has worn me out. More to follow when I get my energy back.

Stay tuned for Tinyvette Cannonball Run Revival from start to finish......

11‐15‐2017, GTRoy We like it, and we want more story !

Tracking your zig zag route in Manhattan, I imagined you were getting Tinyvette photos with every Big Apple landmark.

11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Don and I are talking about publishing side‐by‐side but separate versions of this story in The Blitz.

144 In the mean time, hereʹs the summary Iʹve been sending our team and friends:

Team Tinyvette,

Weʹre back. We left on the morning of Nov 8, last Wednesday, for an official start from LeMons HQ, then drove the Tinyvette to NYC, had a bagel, and drove right back. Why not?

Briefly, the drive out was a test to see what it would take to make a good run back. If we could do the out trip non‐stop, great, if not, learn what we can and save our energy for the return trip. With temperatures outside in the low to mid‐teens heading into Chicago and no heater in the car (because racecar) we had to grab a room and thaw. The next day we drove to within 30 minutes of our destination and got a room, regrouped, and headed into NYC the next day, late morning. There we met NYC traffic for the first time, which as bad as it was would have been OK except for the street closures for the parade. Three hours later we made it the ten blocks to the Redball Garage. There we rested for about an hour, grabbed a NYC bagel, then just as traffic started to clear we left for California.

Our goal on the return was to do it non‐stop. Completion time was a priority, but not a top priority, pretty much like in a Lemons race. We knew weʹd be needing to stop and thaw until we go far enough south, those stops taking 25‐30 minutes typically, which turned out to be cool as we got to chat with locals. We more or less learned how to sleep while strapped into a Kirkey race seat, wrapped in blankets, and wearing ear muffs. (Pro Tip: Kirkeyʹs will do a job on your tail bone after 30‐40 hours. Plan accordingly.)

Our sleep strategy was simply to sleep as much as possible while in the passenger seat and do driver swaps at every fuel stop, about every 3 hours. That worked out reasonably well, although twice I had to turn the car back over to Don, my co‐driver, about mid‐way through my stint. It got a little scary a couple of times, and for the final leg back to our homes Don had to give up part way through his stint. We have our limits, and we are not dumb. (We can discuss that last point later.)

We got to the LA area around noon Monday and from that point on was the most dangerous part of the trip. My gawd, driving in LA.

145 We were so lucky we came in on a holiday and that Don, who was driving, had been a long‐haul trucker whoʹd made many a run to and through LA. LA was also the only place we got off route, but it didnʹt slow us much and we arrived at our destination, to be met by friends and family of Don, at around 2 PM.

After our first real meal since the previous Wednesday (We ate nearly nothing during the whole trip.) we headed the 560 miles or so to my place up near Sacramento.

As tired as we were on the way home from LA last night it was a great drive, too. I joked with Don about continuing on to Seattle, which at this point seemed like the natural thing to do. In fact, the notion of waking up in the morning and not spending the rest of the day elbow‐to‐elbow in the Tinyvette felt unnatural.

Anyway, the Tinyvette survived and in fact ran flawlessly the whole way there and back. Itʹll need a little TLC before Sonoma, but it will be racing. No more of that glitter bomb crap.

11‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Hereʹs a good one. Towards the end of the trip Mike asks, ʺso, are you wanting a GT now?ʺ That Mike. What a joker. A horse and buggy suspension, the engine installed halfway underneath the car, no room for nothinʹ. We both had a good laugh.

11‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Quote: We like it, and we want more story !

Is there anyway we can still maybe get that? It would be nice to know where we actually went. We could have probably walked that route maybe twice in the time it took to drive. Crazy stuff.

11‐15‐2017, MICAH1 Mike/Don, once again...... HATS OFF TO A MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE!!!

11‐15‐2017, opelnut_1 Tech Specs: hey how about so tech info, like MPG, top speed , average speed, average price of fuel.... and the like

146 11‐15‐2017, norbertone.gt371 Quote: Mike/Don, Once again...

Thomas, my big friend! You wrote what I feel all days when Don/Mike was start this round trip! I can`t write not more as you!

11‐15‐2017, MICAH1 Thumbs up

Thanks for the compliment my German brother...

11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: hey how about so tech info...

Iʹm working on it.

11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Some photos.

11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Two more.

11‐15‐2017, GTRoy Where was the snow ?

Tinyvette in a hub cap, great shot ! Looks tiny.

Did you both have grey beards 2 weeks ago ?

Attached are some camera screen shots of Manhattan Odyssey. Its only connect the dots rather follow the path, but with Google Earth and Street View you can re‐create and look at anything you missed

11‐15‐2017, Don Michaelson Thanks for the pictures Roy. I about fell outta my chair laughing. I can now. I was thinking earlier, Iʹve been to New York City maybe 4 times but can honestly say that Iʹve actually never set foot in the city.

147 11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Where was the snow ?

The snow was in Chicago.

The tracker wasnʹt working well while in the city, in part because of tall buildings, and in part because it fell into a spot in the car where it did not have direct line to the sky. Don and I will try to reconstruct the route.

11‐15‐2017, crliwa Great story .....Sounds like you will remember this adventure forever. I wish I had been back home to greet you but I didnʹt fly back to NYC til Monday.

Did you have your bagel with a schmear?

11‐15‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Great story .....Sounds like you will remember this...

Pastrami.

11‐16‐2017, Timbo Does the Tinyvette have door locks? I worried about that when I heard you were leaving the car in the hotel parking lot.

11‐16‐2017, Gary Quote: Does the Tinyvette have door locks? ...

Tinyvette has the anti‐theft stick shift.

11‐16‐2017, Don Michaelson bagel and a schmear

Ok then, while we wait for traffic to clear letʹs go down to the Bagel Cafe at the corner of 3rd and 29th and have us our well deserved bagel and a schmear. Waited to spot Jerry and George but they must have been tied up in traffic.

While we eat our bagel, hereʹs some observations worth mentioning on the first leg of the journey:

148 The springs in your automotive seat are a very important part of the carʹs overall suspension. Kirkey racing seats have no such springs. When you get down to it, they have no kind of butt cushioning to speak of at all. Younger lads would have plenty of gluteus in their maximus for cushioning. At our advanced age our gluteus maximusʹ have become a pair of gluteus minimusʹ.

We saw a CHP sitting at the Truckee off‐ramp just before leaving California. The next time we saw any kind of patrol car was Illinois. There must be a lot of doughnut shops along I‐80.

Converse all‐stars are not a winter shoe.

The further east we went the better people were at moving over after passing, unlike out west where drivers figure those mirrors are for primping and not much else. That was refreshing.

We met friendly people all the way across. But thinkinʹ about it maybe they were friendly like one would be upon seeing two cold little puppies who have lost their way. At most all of the fuel stops theyʹd forego charging for coffee and hot chocolate just to have us tell them of our journey. Speaking of hot chocolate, good old Mike could sure put away a lot of it.

The spot tracker proved to be a whole lot of fun. People being able to continually track our progress. Zooming in they could even see when weʹd move the car from the fuel island to the parking lot. My brother asked, ʺwhy are your pit stops taking so long?ʺ Hmm, where to start. First ingress and egress is not like any roadworthy car. I believe thereʹs a video at Tinyvetteʹs facebook page of Mike gliding effortlessly out of the passenger seat. On top of that, when strapped in if something wasnʹt an armʹs length away you werenʹt going to be getting it. That meant all our stuff would have to be swapped when a shift change happened. And if anything was needed in back weʹd have to take out the rear windows to get to it. And, of course, the weather. Stepping in to a nice warm truck stop it was really, really hard to step back into the cold. Oh yeah, we borrowed the spot tracker from a hang glider. While instructing us on itʹs use he pointed to a button and said, ʺDonʹt push this one, unless youʹre about to crash into the ground. A helicopter will show up with a HUGE bill attached to it.ʺ

149 We woke up to snow in Joliet, Ill. I was done sleeping and went down to the lobby for coffee while Mike still slept. He woke up noting I wasnʹt there. He went looking for a note. He was sure that note would read, ʺcaught a cab to the airport, good luck.ʺ Har thatʹs good stuff.

Iʹm sure thereʹs something more invigorating than going 80mph in a snow storm but at the moment I canʹt think of one.

The carnage on the highways took our collective breaths away. Do elephants roam the countryside at night? Even hitting what chunks of meat are left after the initial hit would do damage to a small car.

One half of a typical day is spent in darkness but it seemed like it was dark all the time. Tinyvetteʹs headlights were very good indeed. They were a higher wattage than standard highway headlights, with well designed lenses.

Maybe itʹs because of the continual freeze/thaw cycle but through Iowa and Illinois each section of the highway had a kind of hoopdidoo to it, causing us to leave our seats and then come crashing down into them in almost the same instant. This went on for the two states. Bridges, at speed, it was especially so. And at every one Mike would say, ʺone of these times itʹs gonna launch us.ʺ At least Iʹm guessing thatʹs what he said. Conversation wasnʹt what youʹd call sterling. Typical response was usually, ʺheh‐hehʺ or ʺyep, yepʺ or a look of concentration would be enough to convey the message.

Man, that was one good bagel. Donʹt forget the parking garage guy asked for a hot tea, 3 sugars, and a slice of lemon. Itʹs almost time to go. Catch you on the interstate......

11‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Does the Tinyvette have door locks?

I took the exterior cameras into the room with us, figuring they might be too tempting and would also encourage taking a closer look inside the car. I took a few other things as well, such as my DSLR and video camera. I guess if someone wanted our tools, well, we could keep going. If they took the steering wheel, however...

150 11‐16‐2017, Mike Meier Excellent observations, Don.

The carnage was indeed impressive. I think we must have driven by over 5000 pounds of meat lying in and alongside the road, and some of it was huge! I think I saw part of an elk, doubtfully a cow, but almost as big. Sometimes the blood on the road was splattered across two lanes and went on for several car lengths. One time I had to slalom big pieces, one of which looked like an intact but extracted organ of some kind, about the size of a loaf of bread, all while hoping to not spin in the blood. About a quarter mile up the road there was a car off to the right, the driver having just finished inspecting the front of his car. I didnʹt get a good look but the car looked fine, but then he could not see what I saw, and that was a mess of animal clinging to the bottom of his car. My guess it was the hide and more as there had been no recognizable animal features in what I had just auto‐crossed through.

Iʹm downloading the video now. I may put a few quick clips together today so you can get a visual on what it was like. Give me more time to put something more coherent together.

11‐16‐2017, Don Michaelson observations addendum

Oh mama. I just put on my Gortex long undies. I sure wish Iʹd a packed these instead of my shorts. O’ theyʹre sooo warm, and so silky smooth against my skin.

11‐16‐2017, Don Michaelson Thatʹd make good headlines. Little car spins out of control in blood puddle after hitting organ.

ʺWhat? Again?ʺ

11‐16‐2017, Timbo Quote: Excellent observations, Don.

Mike, in the old days, I‐80 across PA was really bad. In a cost cutting move, they decided to not pick up the deer carcass on the highway. They stayed there until the bones would blow away. We made the trip a couple of times a year and you could see the same pile of

151 bones, only smaller, over the year. The snow plows would finally clean things up.

11‐17‐2017, Don Michaelson Finally, The Cannonball Run

Ok. This is what itʹs all about. After a couple days of rather severe discomfort weʹre in New York City and ready to make the mad dash for the left coast.

After a delicious one course meal of a bagel we were ready to go. The traffic had cleared somewhat and after paying $16.90 for one hourʹs parking, we cleared the threshold of the Red Ball Garage headinʹ west for the entrance to the Lincoln tunnel. Averaging at well over 2mph, according to the GPS speedo, we finally reach the tunnel along with everybody else trying to get off the island. Mikeʹs driving. About halfway through we get into a rev‐off with 3 or 4 vets on Harleys. The sounds of many ccʹs of unbridled power bounced off the walls. Thatʹs not to say we were going anywhere. We were just sittinʹ there making noise. There was nothing else to do.

After all the travails of getting across the country the first time, going back was kind of uneventful Iʹm afraid. I actually canʹt recall a whole lot of the trip. I can only compare it to a long plane ride, remembering the take‐off and landing with a long drone in between. Eating bad food, and putting up with your seat mate continually stabbing you with his elbow. I canʹt even say it was like sitting in the emergency row. Getting out in an emergency? Well, again I point you to Tinyvette facebook page and watch good old Mike climbing out at the finish.

It wasnʹt long before traffic cleared. One thing I forgot to mention....toll roads. The way they work is ‐ you come on to the toll road you push a button, grab the ticket and then when you get off the toll road thereʹs a toll booth where you pay. The button to be pushed is just about 4 inches out of reach as you sit in Tinyvette’s driverʹs seat. That means unbuckling the belts, taking off the steering wheel, open the door, get up on the rollover bar and get the ticket. Meanwhile the line behind gets longer and longer. Belts buckled? Steering wheel back on straight? Letʹs go...

So many people. So few gas stations. Mike, in his technologically

152 adept ways, wired a little red light that lights up when thereʹs one gallon left. We lit that light up more than a few times, beginning with the very first fuel stop. Of course it was nowhere near the interstate. We had to drive to the nearest village to find itʹs one and only gas station, a grubby little Exxon. The pumps were open but nobody home. I took over the driving duties from there.

The end. I say that because I couldnʹt tell you when I drove or when Mike was driving after that. Or when we stopped. Or where we stopped. I was warm, I didnʹt care. I sure hope Mike has better memory retention than me. Oh, wait, I do remember Knoxville having a really swell skyline. Modern glassy buildings. I also remember a nasty mess of an accident. Where was it? Oklahoma? Two trucks came together, tearing both their trailers apart spreading cargo from them over traffic lanes and the median. Fortunately it was in the opposite direction. (the only accident seen the whole trip by the way.) Traffic tie‐up stretched for miles. It was like the I‐405 heading out of L.A. during rush hour. A road course I hope I never ever have to drive. Oh yeah. At one point about halfway a pretty little red GT came up alongside and paced us for a while. All manner of hand gesticulation was used hoping to get him to join us off the highway for a little converse. It didnʹt work. They continued on as we sat in a Circle K parking lot wondering what to do.

Wow. A trip across the whole country and Iʹm not recollecting much of any of it. I snapped out of my Zombie‐like trance when we got to Needles in the morning. I know it was morning because I had hostess doughnuts, (the powered sugar ones) and chocolate milk. What normal person doesnʹt eat that for breakfast? It had to be morning.

Is it my imagination? I smell the ocean! Gassed up, hunger pangs quelled, we were outta there like a shot. Running across the California desert at 85+ we pondered the days of the covered wagon. With those wide open spaces chances are the people could see where theyʹd be spending the next night over their morning coffee. We were covering the covered wagonʹs dayʹs journey in about 15 minutes. At that speed I was barely keeping up with traffic. We turned left at that maudlin fun filled town of Barstow on I‐15, aiming for the eastern edge of L.A. Any time now I figure our forward progress will grind to a halt. But it was not to be. Word must have spread that we were coming to town, and everybody stayed home. The traffic, or lack of, was something Iʹd never experienced. It was

153 like that all the way.

Then the red light blinked on. Growing up in Southern Cal. itʹs common knowledge that once on a freeway you donʹt get off. Well, the red light said otherwise and off the freeway we went. Found gas OK but could find no way back onto the freeway. We did stumble across the Pacific Coast Highway heading in the right direction so continued on. About 25 minutes later we were pulling up to the finish line at the Portofino, amid the deafening cheers of our fans standing curbside.

And thatʹs that. Oddly I kinda miss it. Odd because thereʹs really nothing Iʹm remembering about the trip. Itʹs a time/distance compression kinda thing. Have you ever sat somewhere, zoned out, and think youʹve sat there for 5 minutes and ended up being 2 hours? I find it can be done with distance too. I would drive what would seem like 50 miles and find weʹd covered 200 miles. Trippy.

OK then. What a trip! Already thoughts are being tossed about. Whatʹs the next big adventure for the little yellow car? I donʹt know. Stayed tuned. I gotta feeling itʹll be something special.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, wait, one more thing. Once all the celebration died down and all the TV camera crews went home it was decided, that, shucks, itʹs only another 400 miles to get home.....and once again....away we went. It was 4:30. We jumped on the nearest freeway outta town. That freeway being the dreaded I‐405 northbound. During rush hour. After covering 18 miles in a little over an hour we finally reached I‐5 headinʹ north. 6 more hours of rollinʹ, rollinʹ, rollin,ʹ and we had, indeed, reached the end of our adventure.

Again, thanks for reading.

11‐17‐2017, The Scifi Guy Now you have to do the Marco Polo Run: Beijing, China, to.....uhhh...... Italy?.

Or maybe the Transiberian Run?

154 11‐17‐2017, Timbo It was a lot of fun and much warmer watching the trip progress. The tracking really helped us stay involved. I guess one of us should have warned you about getting an EZ‐Pass. No stopping needed for tolls.

11‐17‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: Now you have to do the Marco Polo Run...

Both are very possible. Don?

We did discuss doing a Four Corners run, normally a Harley thing, possibly soon to also be an Opel/Lemons thing:

https://sc‐ma.com/rides/usa‐four‐cor...‐ride‐summary/

11‐17‐2017, Don Michaelson Oh‐oh. Dang. That 4 corners trip does sound intriguing. And what? 600 miles more than we covered last week? Wait a minute, let me see if I got any clean underwear in my drawer...... Yep, ok, when do we go?

11‐17‐2017, Mike Meier Nonstop?

11‐17‐2017, Don Michaelson Is there any other way?

11‐17‐2017, Gary Add gel pads for the seats!

11‐17‐2017, SpringGT Quote: Both are very possible. Don?

Have you considered the La Carreras Panamericana in Mexico? I think that it is a staged rally now, with nightly stops for beer and rest; something that your recent jaunt didnʹt have!

11‐17‐2017, RallyBob Alaskan Rally would be fun. Itʹs actually been won a couple of times overall by an ex‐Opel driver (but driving a Subaru).

155 11‐17‐2017, Mike Meier I spent much of last night reading the rules for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. There is a class we could get in and so far not many modifications would be needed to pass tech, it seems, on my first reading. It would be interesting trying to get a naturally aspirated dual DCOE carbureted car from 4000 ft elevation to over 14,000. Maybe RallyBob can help us figure out a way to install a controlled vacuum leak system in the Cannon intakes so we can lean out the mixture as altitudes increase.

The Mexico rally is intriguing. Skimming the rules weʹd be in a historical class, but weʹd need to run on original sized tires, have the original glass in, etc. John Pagel, Lemons chief tech guy, has prepared a Volvo 122 for that race. I think Iʹll contact him.

Iʹm also looking at the Texas Mile.

The Virginia City hill climb hasnʹt been run recently.

I think I may need sponsor.

11‐17‐2017, norbertone.gt371 Quote: And thatʹs that. Oddly I kinda miss it..

Its called the time tunnel.

11‐17‐2017, Don Michaelson Pikeʹs peak.

Cool. Oldest son Mike is a hop and skip away.

His hand holds a wrench well and, (this is hard to believe), as much of a car geek as you, Audi being his flavor. (Engineer types, where would the world be without ʹem?)

11‐17‐2017, Don Michaelson Time tunnel.

Ya know Nobert, that video nails it! Well....with the exception to the disco music...I donʹt remember hearinʹ disco music while this was happening. But thatʹs exactly what itʹs feeling like, but everything is still pretty much running at a normal pace around you. By the way

156 I saw my old house as we passed Pismo Beach on the way to San Luis Obispo in the video. Thanks for that video. Iʹve done that trip hundreds of times and know where I am that whole video. Nice to do the trip quickly.

11‐17‐2017, Kyler Norman Quote: install a controlled vacuum leak system...

Mike, I used to take my four wheeler up the Rocky Mountains. At the bottom I tuned my four wheeler to run with the air box on (the stock air boxes really restrict air flow) then I’d keep going up the mountain until power got lower then I took the air box off and hauled butt the rest of the way.

11‐17‐2017, slracer Quote: I used to take my four wheeler...

And since you donʹt want to stop on the ʺhillʺ and take your airbox off, maybe a sliding top would suffice!

12‐04‐2017, Don Michaelson Howdy folks,

Well, doggone it. I got bit by the bug. No, itʹs more like the bug burrowed in and laid some eggs. Iʹve started lurking around on the Iron Butt website. A motorcycle endurance riding site with all sorts of mouth watering long distance trips to consider.

Mike and I talked earlier about the Four‐Corners trip (San Ysidro ‐Key West‐Matasuka, Me ‐ Blaine, Wa.) About 8000 miles.

Another interesting trip involved is driving in all 48 states. That one ends up being no more than what our Cannonball run was, about 6800 miles.

Gonna have to wait for it to get a little warmer though. The Cannonball chilled me thoroughly. Iʹm parked by the fireplace till the spring thaw.

12‐04‐2017, opelnut_1 What was the overall gas milage for the trip?

157 12‐04‐2017, Don Michaelson Hello Mr. Nut,

Youʹll have to wait for Mikeʹs response. He kept track of all the numbers.

He was figuring we were getting about 30mpg. Hard to believe with those dual side drafts making all that noise.

12‐04‐2017, MICAH1 Hey Don, I thought you guys switched to the 32/36 for the Cannon Ball Run?????

12‐05‐2017, Don Michaelson Hi ya Thomas,

No. It was run as it would run in a typical 24 hour lemons, with the exception of the passenger seat and the dead weight sittinʹ in it.

12‐05‐2017, Don Michaelson Horrible Idea 2018

ʺWHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?ʺ asked Diana in capital letters.

Yipes! I felt like Iʹd been caught looking at internet porn...... again.

What was I looking at you might ask?

Go ahead, ask.

OK since you asked, I was looking at the quickest way around the 48 states. Like I said, the bug burrowed deep.

So. Shipping the wagon is out of the question, Iʹm on a fixed income that needs fixinʹ. The best route is starting in CA, take a little ride through the countryside and end up in OR. Piece of pie.

Iʹm sittinʹ, waitinʹ, for the slap that would bring me back to reality. ʺBe sure to pick up some milk and bread on the way back,ʺ

Oh‐oh......

158 12‐05‐2017, Mike Meier Quote: ʺWHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?ʺ asked Diana...

Thatʹs how it happens. Youʹve been bitten. You are screwed. There is only one way out.

1 Week Ago, Mike Meier To be fair, to us, we havenʹt finished a race in the past year, but before that, going back to 2010, we had only two DNFs.

https://youtu.be/mQkUbQusBbI

1 Week Ago, Mike Meier I promised some statistics. My main delay was tracking down the info from the receipts I seem to have misplaced. And I am still tweaking this. For instance the 86 mph average over a leg (between fuel stops) seemed odd, then I figured out we crossed into a time zone. Anyway, based on gas receipts and Google Maps, these are the numbers.

Total mileage, 6255 mile

CA to NYC: 2906 miles

NYC to Redondo Beach: 2915 miles

Redondo Beach to home: 434 miles

Total fuel cost: $925

Total fuel usage: 291 gallons

Average cost of fuel: $3.17 (Fuel costs were $1 higher in California, as high as $4.20 in Needles.)

Distance between fuel stops: 225 miles (average), 302 miles (maximum)

Average Speed: 57.2 mph

Maximum average speed for a leg (between fuel stops): 69.7 mph, across AR and into OK

159 Average fuel cost per mile: $0.15 per mile. Highest cost was $0.20 per mile on the leg between Emeryville and Donner Summit, almost 7000 feet elevation change in 175 miles.

1 Week Ago, Kyler Norman Looks like you averaged 21.5mpg not bad with DSDs! My 38DGAS gets about 22‐24mpg at 75mph for comparison. Looks like you got near 30mpg on your longest stint assuming you’re using a little over 10 gallons like I usually fill up.

1 Week Ago, Don Michaelson Maximum average speed for a leg (between fuel stops): 69.7 mph, across AR and into OK

We went through Arkansas and Oklahoma? I musta been soundly asleep.

1 Week Ago, slracer Quote: Maximum average speed for a leg...

Hmmm! Looking back, I thought YOU were DRIVING!

1 Week Ago, Mike Meier The average speeds include the time spent fueling the car and thawing our feet. Figure 20 minutes stopped for a 2.5 hour stint and that will bump the speed up by about 13%. That means our 69 mph stint average was about 78 mph average while driving.

Top speeds were around 93 mph for brief periods, barely fast enough to not be getting constantly passed. The posted speed limit, in TN for example, might be 65, but everyone was doing at least 80 across the whole state. Posted speed limits in UT and WY were 80, making it hard to feel like bold and daring outlaws for going 85.

I have the actual speed data on my iPhone, recorded by the SpeedTracker app, but the file is too large to export. I need to figure out how to do that.

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