NHvette

Well, my vette project has come to a stand still for the last week or two. I've
been spending my free time getting the yard and house ready for the party.

The weather for Saturday was looking questionable, but I was confident that
everything would turn out OK. Around noon, the sun broke out through the
scattered clouds. As 1 O'clock rolled around, the first visitors arrived. Not
soon after, the first vette pulled in. I put the CF username in parantheses after their name.

Curt (csign) drove his red '66 SB vert with sidepipes down from Manchester. He was
also the first to leave - but not until hanging out for a few hours and seeing all
the other 'vettes. Next to arrive was a local guy, Gary, that I stopped and talked
to a few weeks back as he was working on his vette in the driveway. I've
seen Gary's red 76 on the way to work for a couple years, now. I'm glad that
I had a chance to stop and meet him before the party. Soon after, more C3s
pulled in: Patrick (Packy76) in his metallic blue '76 and color matching ralley wheels.
Mark (Mpro72vette) in his highly modded green-silver 72 LT-1 - with his hood
on. Don (adamdinat) drove up in a beautifully shiny red '79 with a ZZ4. The
final arrival was Dennis (pra4sun) in a Donneybrook green '70 convertible.

Everybody had a great time - checking out all the fixes, breaks, and mods on
each of the cars. All of the guests that weren't 'vette fanatics also enjoyed the
mini-show in the driveway. The Corvette owners were cool - but my friends
and family tended to tease me on the 'drive-ability' of mine. "You'll see", I told
them, "You'll see." One thing surprised me : I actually heard my wife telling
late guests that "It was really cool earlier - with the driveway full of
Corvettes". I think she may be coming around - after all.

So, everyone enjoyed the pig roast - the adults helped put a dent in the keg -
and the kids spent most of the time in the pool. We did not need to call the
ambulance - and the police were not called. :hurray: :hurray:
My neighbor did say that he heard the tunes - and us out swimming a 12AM.
He must have been listening pretty good to hear that.

All the vettes rolled out by nightfall, and the last guests left around 1AM.
They walked home - :cheers: :cheers: - after a little adult stunt jumping
off of the rope swing :cheers: :cheers: . I wish I had the video camera for
that. Like I said - no ambulance - this is good.

The next morning was a different tune. The wife had gone to volunteer,
working at a fund-raiser bingo game. I was minding my own business, when
I heard a distant rumble that ended in a loud idling in my driveway. Looking out,
I see a red C2 convertible. I thought Curt had forgotten something yesterday,
but no. I went down to the rear slider, and there is a guy that I've never seen
before. He introduces himself and explains that he saw a sign at the end of
my driveway that says "Corvettes Only". I explain that he should have been here
yesterday - and that I wanted to go get my boys to check out his red '67 427
convertible with sidepipes. As I go back outside - I see the guy, Dale, with my
garden hose. He is swearing up a storm and spraying the hose all over
himself. I'm thinking - WTF is going on with this wacko ? It turns out that
he had just replaced the radiator and had the notion to check things out.
He was showered on the forehead, ear, side of his head and ribcage with scalding
hot water from his radiator. We got the last of the ice out of the cooler and
some burn cream on him ASAP. I asked if he wanted me to call an ambulance.
His forehead was blistered - but the rest of his burns looked to be less severe.
He opted to take a bag of ice and drive himself to the hospital. He was in LOTS
of pain - but I asked him several times if he was sure - and he wanted to drive.
He took off from the end of my driveway - and his tires were still spinning
about 100 yards down the street. He promised to return when he could.
I hope he is recovering well.

PSA:
PLEASE - don't check your radiator hot. This is the first time I've seen it this
bad. It wasn't gruesome - but EXTEREMELY disturbing to see. You do NOT
want to be the person burned - or even seeing it.


Well - here are a few pics - taken with my son's cheesy digicam:

The driveway after Curt left in his '66. (My body on dolly behind my 75 donor):




A closer shot of "adamdinat":




The yellow sign on the tree says "Corvettes Only". Dale wishes he never saw that sign.




Until next time .... :seeya


[Modified by NHvette, 11:27 AM 8/11/2003]


[Modified by NHvette, 6:11 PM 8/11/2003]

mpro71vette

Hey Dave, I had a great time! The roasted pig was delicious! Your sons camera didn't do to bad, but now that I look at myself I need to lose weight! :lol: :smash: :smash: Everyone there was pretty cool, and I hope all of us can get together again and talk about vettes. Thanks for the invite! :cheers: :cheers:

groovyjay

An WHY wasn't I invited!?:skep: Seriously man, your drive way looks like a dream come true in that first shot!!! Man I wish I wasn't living so far away from all the good stuff... Sorry to hear about Dale? hope he's going to be ok asap. Hope to make it to your next BBQ! :cheers:

Alwyn678

looks like a lot of nice cars showed up.........SWEET :cheers:

NHvette

Jay - You WERE invited - just not personally. Sorry you missed the invite -
but unless you were in New England anyway - I doubt the airfare would have
been worth it. Maybe after you get the BB under the hood, yo ucan figure out an easy way to make her amphibious.

Here was your second invite - you just missed it:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=623066


All the vettes there were good drivers. I don't mean to talk anyone's down -
but no trailer queens here - just nice fun vettes. My friend Ken (73ken73)
may have had the nicest one in the drive - but he wimped out due to the
clouds in the sky and a chance of a shower. There's always next year's party.

:seeya

SmokedTires

:cool: Sounds like everyone had a good time (except maybe for that last fella :sad: ).

:bb I too checked my radiator once (back in high school) after the car had warmed up a bit too much. I went to school after being sprayed in the face with coolan,. only to leave shortly afterwards because my forehead was blistering. It's the one time I was very happy to be wearing my eyeglasses, & luckily I didn't have any scarring laterr on from my learning experience :crazy: !

pra4sun

It was a great day indeed! We got really lucky with the weather (There must be a lot of Vette lovers in heaven), and the food, drink and company were fabulous!

It was great to meet fellow Vette owners who work hard to keep their Vettes on the road. It is really a labor of love, and everybody was a proud father. I was at the party for over an hour before I left the driveway and found my way to the keg. :cheers: It was funny to see Gary's Vette there, I too pass it every day on the way to work and always wondered about it. Every Vette there was special, and Mark's new engine install was wonderful.

Thanks again, Dave. And I intend to hold you to your promise to help me with my 33 year old front suspension replacment. ;)

P.S.: Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident on Sunday. You should keep that sign up, you never know who will be next to show up. :steering:

PPS: My wife's boss has a '58 driver. Maybe we can convince him to take the cover off it and join us sometime. :cool:

NHvette

Dennis - of course I'll keep my promise. Did I promise ? Musta had a few beers. :jester
Of course, you've seen the pace I work at. It may be a while. Is yoru sticker about to expire ?
Also - I stopped and talked to Gary. You can stop and recruit the late model
white C3 that is just west of him on 111. You know - the yard that looks more
like a redneck junkyard than mine does. Hey, at least he has it covered and in the front yard.
I haven't seen it moved all summer. :confused: Maybe a purchase is in order.

Thanks to everyone for coming. :seeya

pra4sun

Sticker expires the end of this month. :cry
I'm not sure what I'll do, probably park it and start disassembly - if I can figure out where to start. :smash:

Gary knows the guy who owns that car under the cover. It is a family of rednecks - very famous in the area. The guy stopped at Gary's house one time and was telling him about all the work he did on it, and that he was going to get it painted. Gary says that literally an hour later, the guy came back with his newly-painted Vette. :rofl:

NHvette

Uh - oh. I hope the guy who owns that white vette doesn't read the forum !!
It actually looks pretty nice driving by - turbo hood, fender louvers, etc.
You can't see the brush strokes in the paint from 50 feet away. ;)

I would try for a sticker at another place - or if worse comes to worst, I think I can 'get' one for ya. Maybe your shop has already forgotten your situation.
If I were you - I would try for a sticker and leave the work for when the leaves fall.

adam

> Cheesy digicam

Need better camera ... The picture at first looked like a corvette junkyard.
Tarps on cars, hoods up. partial body there, etc.

Closer inspection - :cool: great to see so many vettes in one place.

73Ken73

Wow
I was stupid not to go. The weatherman was predicting torrental down pours that day. Thats the last time that I will listen to the weatherman. I will come next time even if it is raining. :cry

NHvette

Yeah - I have a picture of your vette in the driveway, Ken. I was gonna
photoshop it in there - but too much time. See ya 2 night for poker.