ROUTE 66 4497.1 miles We're Home

[Ghoste]

Haha, luv it. 

[69_500]

Looks like yous having one heck of a trip. Gotta give you props on driving the car. I know people looked at me weird this weekend for just putting 800 miles on my car. I would love to do a cross country trip in mine.

[hemigeno]

Well, there was a white Superbird sighting in Missouri this afternoon...

Mike and Michael intended to make a brief stop on their Route 66 voyage, and called me ahead of time - so I was waiting by the shop door with camera in hand for their arrival.

[hemigeno]

While waiting for their arrival, I called my local friend & 'Bird owner Rich Bolzenius, who abandoned his wife at an auction and rushed home to get his FY1 6-pack bird out of his garage.  You can see him in the first photo on the left, and the side of his bird in the background.  Nothing like having another wing car show up in a small town to bring out the fellow WingNuts...  

[hemigeno]

After exchanging pleasantries and just beginning to talk about their journey, history of the car, etc., Mike noticed his wing now had a slight defect...

[hemigeno]

Here was the culprit (sorry for the blurry pic, I'm still not adjusted to this camera)

There was rust/corrosion on all but just a small sliver of metal, which means that fracture had been present for at least a little while.  I didn't look closely enough to see if the wing had been painted separately at GYC or not - but that bolt was a grenade with the pin pulled.

Mike could not get the other side's bolt to budge without stripping the allen-head capscrew, so taking the horizontal section off was not an option.  The bird would have looked a little odd for the rest of their trip with two uprights sticking up and no horizontal wing, so we put on our thinking caps for a different solution.

[hemigeno]

There's a pretty good chance the remaining fine-thread bolt section is not going to come out of that extruded aluminum wing without a great deal of difficulty.  Since it's pretty secure right where it is, and it's made of some pretty good steel, we decided to drill & tap a smaller bolt hole in the middle of the existing capscrew's body.  I scrounged around the shop here and found a couple of 1/4-20 bolts with about the right length.

Here's Mike doing the drillwork:

[hemigeno]

After a little fettling and finding just the right combination of washers, the wing seems pretty secure - although I'd probably be guilty of taking a peek at that corner of the rear view mirror pretty often myself...

With the work done, it was time for some quick visiting and photos.

[hemigeno]

More photos of the small flock of 'Birds, and a shot of the wounded wing after repairs...

[hemigeno]

Mike and Michael have already logged 3,500 (well, actually 3,500.1 when he pulled in the shop) miles on their trip so far, and 500 of those were put on today.  He said it's been a blast to drive, and hasn't really given them any major problems so far.

Since they have another 750 miles to drive before they get home, and with their plan to be home tomorrow evening, it was time for them to head out back to the Mother Road.

Gentlemen, it was a pleasure to meet you.  I hope I was something of a small blessing to you along the way, and it was a sincere joy to see you guys out enjoying such a fantastic road trip in a fantastic (wing)car.  Have a safe remainder of the trip!!!

Geno

[nvrbdn]

nice job on the wing repair. lucky for them it was found while pulling in for a visit instead of miles from no help.

[Davtona]

Not the first repair I can think of that has been done on weary travelers cars in that shop! Brake boosters, voltage regulators and now wing repairs. Thank God for Geno's muscle car pit stop.  Three wings in the building at one time. That's a new record isn't it? Oh and the red one and the yellow one together again under one roof. Been a while on that too if you follow me.    Good write up Geno. 

[ACUDANUT]

I can't believe that the wing needed help, after a 200K + restoration. 

[hemi68charger]

Good show on friends, rendezvous' and home repair projects.......... Ok, not home repair, Bird repair........... It is inevitable for ALL old cars to need SOME attention.....

Keep on truckin' Mike and Mike..

[ACUDANUT]

He ain't truckin.  

[green69rt]

Absolutely amazing story.  Makes me glad to see others helping. 

I did spend a year at Rolla (before 66 became a interstate.) 

[Mopar Nut]

  I glad to see it wasn't too major. 

[hemi68charger]

He ain't truckin. 

For me he is......... Unless another phrase could be "Keep on Birdin'"........

[Ghoste]

Lets hope the rest of the trip is just scenery, clever repair Gene. 

[hemigeno]

Not the first repair I can think of that has been done on weary travelers cars in that shop! Brake boosters, voltage regulators and now wing repairs. Thank God for Geno's muscle car pit stop.  Three wings in the building at one time. That's a new record isn't it? Oh and the red one and the yellow one together again under one roof. Been a while on that too if you follow me.    Good write up Geno. 

I didn't think about the "reunion" of the red & yellow cars until you mentioned it, but you're right.  Rich has had his car at the shop before, and my car has been at his house before also (albeit riding on the rollback bed of my 2-ton truck) - but this is probably the first time his car has been at the shop since mine's been done.  I was a little distracted by the Hill's visit, but you're right.

Geno's Musclecar Pit Stop... I should get a sign or banner.     The times I've helped out with some repairs is still way fewer than others have done out on the road somewhere (Doug/Pettybird is one of several side-of-the-road or hotel-parking-lot master mechanics I've seen in action).  That's a truly fantastic thing about this hobby... the number of great people you meet, and how willing they are to help one another. 

I'll be interested to hear how the Hills fared on the balance of their trip.  They plan to be home this evening, so mabye they'll check in with an update soon.

[FJ5WING]

so cool!

Nice work men!

I guess the whole "its pretty cool to sit on the wing" ideas have stopped for a little while?

[69_500]

Looking good. I figured you would have a cabinet full of original wing bolts laying around Geno. Jk.

Last time I was in your shop we changed the brake booster on Troy's car.

[ACUDANUT]

Geno, what City do you live in ?

[gymratt30]

 Geno, Michael and i would like to thank you again for the help.

Well I made a phone call to my wife (the boss) , to see how things were going at our family printshop , she told me things were running smoothly, with that said, i mentioned to her that Michael had never seen Nashville, and we would like to stop off there for the day, .....So as i type this, we are still in Nashville and plan to plan to get home tomorrow night.

We will have covered over 4400 miles in our 10 day trip.
Superbird averaged 12/13 miles per gallon, With a fuel bill of about $1400.

I'll be sure to post alot of pics when I get home of our adventures.
Again , thanks Gene.
Mike and Michael Hill

[held1823]

a photo in front of the Parthenon in Centennial Park would be cool

http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Parthenon.aspx