8/13/09
Monterey Madness Begins!
This is the second year in a row I've begun the Monterey Car Weekend in
the San Francisco Bay Area. My friend, Tom K. always has an interesting
car to drive down, and this year was no different with his Alfa Romeo
8C Competizione! This limited production carbon fiber "it" car is
truly a thing a beauty, and despite it's ergonomic foibles, she woos
everyone with her unbelievably good looks. Initially, Tom did not want
to take the Alfa to Monterey because of the stigma of driving such a
high
profile car, but I managed to convince him we wouldn't look like a
couple
of Poseurs!
Just as we were trying to figure out how to fit our luggage in the
car (There is no boot anywhere in the Alfa!), a friend of Tom's pulled
up in his
Maserati Merak. Richard had never been to Monterey, and Tom had
promised to lead him down the coast to Monterey, but Richard already
arrived with a problem. He said he was driving along, heard a
loud pop, and his alternator light went on. After pulling the spare
tire out off the engine compartment, we found the melted
remnants of plastic where his alternator belt used to be. I
checked the pulleys to see if one of them had seized, but they all
turned fine. Maseratis of this era use the same skinny belt fount on
Ferrari 308s for the alternator, and certainly not available from a
local auto parts store, but we needed something to get Richard to
Monterey! After getting a measurement, Tom headed to the auto parts
store, and I started to unbolt the crazy drive shaft set up to get to
the alternator pulleys.
Although it was not ideal, we found a replacement belt that wouldn't
get slung off when we revved the engine, so we were on our way!
We stopped in Pascadero California on the California Coast for lunch.
Artichoke soup all around and more car talk during lunch. Richard told
us his alternator light was not on, but his voltage meter was only
showing about 10 volts on the trip out from San Carlos. We started
brainstorming the possibilities, and felt that either the belt was
slipping and not charging, or the alternator was not working and may
have had something to do with the broken belt. Richard started out with
a fresh battery in San Carlos and drove 90 minutes to lunch, half way
to Monterey. Our choices were to push on for the final leg of the trip,
or stop to buy a spare battery in case the Merak ran the current
battery dry. Tom convinced us to stop for a spare battery.
With a new battery in the back seat, Richard caravaned with us on the
final leg to Monterery. Just as we thought we were going to make it to
Monterey, I noticed the Merak pulling off in Seaside, about 5 miles
short of our destination! Unfortunately, already late for Monterey, we
were forced to call Richard, and wish him good luck with his car. Tom
had left him all the tools he would need to swap out the battery, along
with a battery charger to top up the flat one over night, but we had to
get into town!
Tom had to drop a car off at The Quail Event, and I got to follow him
in the Alfa. I normally don't like all the attention a flash car can
attract, but since it wasn't my car, it was easier to pretend! Traffic
in Monterey is horrendous, and this Thursday afternoon was no
different. We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic heading south on
route one when coming the opposite way was ANOTHER 8C! The owners
enthusiastically waved at me, and I tried my best to casually wave
back, all the while seeing Tom K. smirking at me in his rear view
mirror!
Thursday night was the Tomyang.net dinner party held at a Carmel Valley
restaurant. Many regulars of the website showed up, and I got to put
some more names to faces with several newcomers to the Vintage Ferrari
Fold. Lugano Swiss
Bistro reserved some spaces in the parking lot for us and even made
a special menu for our group. The food was great, the company was
great, the party was great. We've definitely moved up from a breakfast
room in Monterey Motel.
Just a reminder, I'm looking for a
new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration
project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car
on this website! My E-mail.
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