By Ted Godett
Continued from Bloomington Gold Part One
Let's see, where was I again? When I left off last time, I was talking about meeting Jim Shefter at the CCA booth Friday afternoon. It was already fairly late in the day, so Kenny and I headed back to the dynojet stand. He had been unable to find the VetteNetters who had allowed him to share their lodging and had his luggage and car keys locked in their room. I offered him the extra bed in my room at the Hilton, so long as he could cope with the dancing girls and my snoring!<g> He politely turned down the offer, but accepted a ride back to the hotel. I went upstairs to recuperate while he expanded his search before meeting a bunch of VetteNetters for dinner.
About 20 VetteNetters gathered in the lobby at 6:30pm. We walked around the block to a trendy little restaurant foolish enough to let us in!
Doug was kind enough to let me have one of his imported cigars and took the time to instruct me in the ritual. I've smoked cigars in the past, but never knew what the hell I was doing. I must say, though, it's easier to become accustomed to cigar smoking than to tobacco chewing (a right of passage where I grew up--you weren't "cool" until you tried it at least once, turning various shades of green in the process!<g>)
We returned to the garage to hang out and drink beer and other disgusting alcoholic concoctions. When we came upon Kenny's 92, Doug began to detail the rear half with help from several others, leaving the rear beautiful and shiny--a distinct contrast to the dust and grime covering the front end. It sorta looked like one of those "before/after" cars in the paint shop ads. Isn't it wonderful how the truly depraved attract one another?
Again, as the drinkers began their reveling, I retired my sun-stunned, creaking bones to my cool air-conditioned room----this is what happens when you get old, so DON'T DO IT!!!!
Somewhere around 3:00 am the phone rang---don't quote me on the time, because I was asleep. It was Kenny wondering if the lodging offer was still open. Anybody with any sense at all would have hung up, rolled over and gone back to sleep, but if you've followed this tale this far, you know I'll toss out sensible behavior if it means doing something really, really stupid!<g>
Shortly thereafter came a knock on the door, and in comes Kenny, describing his previous accommodations as "The Bugs Inherit the Room!" I was laughing so hard I couldn't fall back to sleep--a smart move on Kenny's part, so he could fall asleep before I began my snoring serenade! He probably doesn't know it, but he saws a pretty mean log, too!
I was up again at 5, repeating the shower massage in preparation for another long, hot day. Dave, Rich, Gary, Stan, Kenny and I met in the garage at 7:30 to do the decent breakfast thing again, before heading off to the auction. After watching a few beauties not sell (big surprise, huh?) I got bored and began to wander thru the cars as they were preparing to enter the auction tent. A red L88 and her orange sister L89 sat side by side, drawing a crowd, the L89 a dead ringer for Stan's baby. I bumped into Dean Nelson and his son Mike, who came down from Chitown in Dean's REAL ZR1 and his classic LS6, autographed by none other than Zora and Elfi. The LT5 still sports the signature's of Dave McLellan, Jerry Watts, Gordon Killebrew and Geoff Jeal, in spite of regular trips to midwestern race tracks for some cheap thrills. These cars are just gorgeous.
Several of us spent much of the rest of the day watching some of the cars doing the dynojet thing at the Hypertech booth and I made a few mercy trips to the NCM booth with a cooler full of Gatorade. Doug Rippie ran one of his modified ZR1s up to 435 hp, Jim Mason and Darrin D put on a good show with their L98s, Dean Nelson's LT5 did 350 hp and Ron Conrad had to run out to have a nail removed from a tire before they'd let his run. One C5 turned out 295 hp at 5800 rpm, with the power and torque curves just beginning to tail off above 6k--just like the curves in the SAE paper! The most painful run was when an immaculate red '65 396, sounding really sweet, blew the clutch at the end of its first run. Damn, it hurt to see it being pushed off the rig. I suppose the bright side would be that replacement parts should have been available nearby.
Kenny spent some time looking for another C5 so he wouldn't have to wait for the two he has on order. He also got some quotes from LPE and DRM regarding an upgraded LS1; ported, stroked, petted and reamed to 400 and beyond horsepower!! I told you he was depraved!<g>
I needed some time off to recharge my batteries, so Kenny and I headed back to the hotel to cool off and relax. Apparently, this thought was not uncommon, as I came upon Jim and Darrin discreetly guzzling down some brews by the hotel pool. We swapped lies for a bit when some unruly youngsters tried to join us, cases of beer in hand. When warned by the pool guardian that the hotel frowns upon consumption of alcoholic beverages by the pool, they said, "But those guys are drinking beer!" and the jig was up.<g>
As the appointed hour for the big VetteNet dinner approached, I felt less and less comfortable with the thought of participating in such a big event. I was just too exhausted, and thinking that being run over by a truck would be an improvement over the way I felt at the time. For this reason, I declined the invitation to dinner, and joined Dave and Rich across the street for an Italian spiced steak & potatoes dinner. We compared vette histories--Dave and his ZR1 background and on-track tales, Rich and his collection of classic vettes (described in a previous post by Randy S.) and me with my early addiction to the marque from rides in my childhood neighbor's 61 (white), 65 (red 396 w/sidepipes) and 68 (also red, but a small block with aftermarket sidepipes)--all roadsters. I also owned up to some physical limitations resulting from my 45mph somersault from my Sportster---the bright side of which has resulted in the luxury of sufficient time and money to pursue a series of high speed driving schools, including Bondurant, Bragg-Smith and a host of club schools. With lots of hours more seat time, I just might become competent at it one of these days!<g>
After dinner, we wandered around the block party where we came across the identical twin of Dave's 94 black ZR1 and the owner happened to be another Michigander. As we compared notes, the always congenial Doug joined us. So we teased him about jvd parting out his Black Beast and letting his 16 year old daughter drive it around to impress her friends. The subject of paint, finish and--good god--waxing, came up. All right, detailing. If anybody has seen Doug's cars, you'd never guess their mileage based on the condition of their paint. The man knows how to care for a Vette's finish.
In describing the methods to clean the crap off the finish before waxing, he demonstrated an interesting technique. The black ZR1 with the spotless finish was the test mule. If we ran two fingers over the surface, it was as smooth as a baby's butt. But, slip a cellophane wrapper from a pack of cigarettes over those fingers and repeat the test,---unbelievable! Everybody who tried this was amazed at the grit they could feel thru the cellophane-and guess what a clay bar removes? Many thanks to Doug for the much needed lesson.
We headed back to the garage where the overseas contingent of Paul, Geoff and his son Daniel, and a few others had made an appearance. The conversation revolved around LT5 upgrades that were once planned for 1996 and the Bloomington LT5 rebuild project that fell thru because the camshaft supplier couldn't deliver on schedule. These tales, combined with those from "Goose" and his better half earlier in the day, added depth and color to the oral history of the LT5. (I just don't remember when, but I think we bumped into each other at the auction, with Paul). We also talked about the racing LT5s in Europe, the plight of Lola (funny how CART teams are dumping the Lola chassis or are just not competitive) and other projects at Geoff's current employer. He has such an incredible wealth of interesting stories from his work. What a great experience!
After several hours flew by like minutes, I retired to my room full of dancing girls (you'd be amazed what happens when you're cruising along on a Level 5 buzz) to prepare for an early morning gathering for the Road Tour, after which we were planning to caravan back to MI.
We met in the garage at 7:30 AM, wiping the layers of dust off our cars that had settled during the party. Kudos to Ron for his mammoth burnout the night before, leaving a thick layer of his tires on the garage floor and a thin layer of rubber dust on our cars combined with noticeable short term(?) hearing loss!<g> And special thanks to Dan for letting me use his Road Tour package as I spaced out and forgot to register. Rick and Craig W. and their better halves elected to skip the tour and head back to MI, while Dave, Rich and I chose to stop for breakfast before heading to the staging area.
If you are not familiar with the Road Tour, let me try to provide some idea of its concept. Countless Vettes gather at the staging area and are lined up---there were at least 10 rows, 50 or more cars long (my numerical estimate may be way off, but this should give you some idea that, well, there were a sh*tload of Vettes<g>). It takes several hours to gather and stage this many, (we were pretty much in the middle of the group), and this provides a great opportunity to wander around, meet new people and talk about their experiences. In a field with so many examples of Corvette, it's truly amazing how many of them can only be described as exceptional examples of the car.
While we wandered, we came upon the Nelson and Jeal clans with the celebrity autographed ZR1 and LS6. Dean was running an in-car video from Mike's car running at MIS last month. The kid can really drive! Such tapes, besides being exciting to watch, are a tremendous learning tool. One can compare lines, shift and brake points from different laps and review mistakes which can be translated into quicker times.
Once staged, the cars follow a prescribed route thru several nearby towns with traffic control provided by the local constabulary. People line up all along the route to see and wave at the parade of the greatest American icon. Of course we return the waves, a skill I've honed by years of one and no-hand driving in downtown Boston!<g> In the centers of the towns, the locals pack the sides of the streets and solicit burnouts---right in front of the police! We oblige, reveling in the opportunity to flaunt our stuff with flair in front of our traditional nemeses.
The route doubles back on itself several times, so there is a constant flow of vettes in both directions. It really is something to see, an incomparable taste of midwestern Americana.
The tour route ended at the fairgrounds, where Dave, Rich and I peeled off to head back to MI. When we stopped at the edge of town to fuel up, we happened upon someone in a red '96 from Indiana who said he could get us back on a faster, more direct route than the single lane thru Chicago, or the longer alternative thru Indianapolis. Using Dave's words, he did show us a shorter route and the road conditions were pretty decent, but he drove rather strangely. He'd go to 105, and I'd set my cruise control, then back down to 65 then to 85 then to 55...It about drove us nuts, and let me tell you, it was WORK! A few other vettes we passed would try to hang with us, but the 10 mile stretch at 105 lost 'em! When we took a break, Dave was laughing about looking in his rear view and seeing me cruising above 100 mph with the top down, waving at vettes with my Havana in hand!<g> After about 30 miles of state roads to get from I57 to I65 and up to I94 beyond the construction zones in Chicago, we got back to cruisin' speed. Dave sacrificed a Mazda Miata that unwittingly ran interference for us and got the ticket from the MI State Trooper. We also cruised with a very well-kept 928, but he was too smart to get suckered like the Miata and dropped back.
When we reached I69, Dave and Rich headed north while I continued on to Ann Arbor. While our 400+ mile trip down took over eight hours, the return trip only took a little over 6, a tribute to the road selection and occasional <g> bursts beyond 85 mph. The trip came to a close with a solitary dark cloud hanging over Ann Arbor that dribbled a few welcome drops of rain on me before I pulled into my carport. I was soaked during a brief downpour while trying to unload my car and get my gear inside (was somebody trying to tell me I needed a shower?<g>), but the sun was back well before my computer finished downloading all the emails from the weekend!
I hope you have enjoyed my rendering of the Bloomington experience. I have to say that I had a great time, met many new people and renewed friendships with many from previous encounters.
One last item--you may have discerned that the experiences I most enjoyed were people oriented rather than specific to Bloomington Gold. I find that the experience is what you make of it, and it's the responsibility of the organizers to enhance that experience better than those of other events. I'd say the NCM Labor Day event has the potential to far surpass BG. BG was once just starting up and the people who participated made it special. If enthusiasts provide even a small level of the support the fledging Bloomington event had, we'll have something no other gathering can claim---the museum AND the plant to anchor a truly special one-of-a-kind event. I'm eagerly supporting the efforts to make the NCM's Labor Day weekend THE event to attend for the vette enthusiast. I hope to see many of you there!
Copyright 1996 Barbara Spear
