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Boxboro MA to West Winfield NY
By John | July 27, 2009
It’s been a long but scenically very rewarding day. Left the Holiday Inn at about 10.00 with Stan Foster and Bob Lang from New England Triumphs – so “uncle jack” had a TR6 at either end to ensure a safe passage. All hooked up on our own little private radio ‘net – and off we set.
Usual scrimmage escaping the urban sprawl but with Bob in the lead and with his excellent local knowledge of roads to take and places to see, we were soon into the Massachusetts ‘rat runs’ and having a fine old time.
Halfway through the morning though – and just after we’d jumped on an Interstate (or a very convincing interstate alternative?) “uncle jack” had a bad cough. Suddenly lost power and for about a minute, we had every permutation of firing cylinders from just one to all eight! As we’d stopped at a gas station very soon beforehand, I put this down to a possible vapour lock or even water in the fuel. Anyway, things soon righted themselves, all eight pots were banging away like good ‘uns – and we carried on.
Stopped for lunch near North Adams at a delightful hostelry overlooking the town …
and with a fantabulous view over the hills and valleys. We were joined here by Clark Nicholls (just visible in the red T shirt) and had an enjoyable lunch watching the lightning and an approaching storm.
The storm mostly passed us by although it was wet enough for Stan to put the top back on his car. Then, it was off again to the next rendez-vous with John Iseman of Adirondack Triumphs at a Dunkin’ Donuts (I think) on the fringes of Albany. As we approached the Donut emporium, what did I see coming past in the right hand lane – but a white Herald 1200!!!!
Mother! It’s Andy Mace!
The last Herald we saw was in Atlanta and belonged to Joe Earnest. We all convened in the Donut parking lot for pix and the handover – and this was as far as Bob and Stan could come, as they had to return to Boston for tonight.
From hereon in, “uncle jack” would be tailgating John Iseman’s 1974 2.8 litre Ford Capri *
Well, it’s a ‘British’ Ford, even though it might have been made in Germany, so let’s not split hairs. In any case, Euro Fords are eligible to take part and it was great to have a ‘crappy’ in the throng. (No insult, John – that’s their nickname at home)Â :)
We see Herald and Capri below with Andy Mace (L) and John Iseman (R).
Sadly, Andy was unable to take part in the escort from Albany and so it was just “uncle jack” and “uncle Henry.”
We moved out of the car park and (with some trepidation on my part) nosed out into the normal suburban four lane highway with traffic moving very quickly in copious numbers – and obviously in both directions. “uncle jack” saw a quick gap to take advantage of and with pedal to the metal, started to surge into the melee. At that point, it was time for a rapid change of mind and to throw all his toys out of the pram – and shut down.
Which he did – but he left me in the middle of the road with rapidly diminishing momentum to dodge a few Peterbilts with blaring horns – and make it safely to the verge on the far side. To stay in the middle of the road was suicidal – so, in the ‘Words of the Prophet’ I can best describe that little debacle as something of a trouser-filler!
Tried the starter once or twice. Not a flicker! Ignition? Maybe. Perhaps the Lumenition set up had packed up and the misfire earlier this morning was the warning?
Then, on popping the bonnet, I saw the fuel filter on the LH strut turret. Absolutely empty – and with the paper media looking very dirty indeed; sort of muddy brown with red highlights. Dodging cars and trucks that seemed determined to wipe me off the face of the planet, I dived into the toolkit for a screwdriver and removed the filter outlet hose. Then, switching on the ignition, was delighted to see Mr. Facet’s product re-filling the plastic bowl. Re-fit the hose, let the pump put in more – and then, fingers crossed, hit the start switch!
“uncle jack” roared into life again (much to my relief) and we continued on our way. Currently, I’m not sure where all that filth in the filter came from. Either I refilled recently where the bulk tank was very low and I bought a load of tank-bottom sludge – OR, the ethanol (or other chemical) is attacking the inside of the fuel lines. We’re having this problem in the UK and Europe with the Triumph injecton cars and it’s playing absolute hell with the injectors and fuel metering filters. Minute pieces of so-called fuel-resistant rubber is detaching itself from fuel line interiors. Haven’t yet opened up the old filter as I need it as a ‘pattern’ for another replacement. Got a substitute filter from an auto parts shop about 50 miles further on and ‘it’ll do’ for the time being – but it’s small and the paper media ain’t nearly as generous as its predecessor.
Anyway, that was the last of the day’s dramas – and so “uj” and “uh” got going again and up-hilled and down-daled along Highway 20 in the early evening sun. Eventually came to a halt at a truly delightful Bed and Breakfast in this sleepy little town – and all ready to link up tomorrow with the group from Greater Rochester Trumph Club who are escorting me all the way to the Canadian frontier at Niagara – I hope!
In fact, Cindy and Doug Jack from GRTC arrived here about 10 minutes after me, so they’ll be here to chase me into action in the morning!
Topics: General News | 1 Comment »
July 27th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
John, must’ve been the heat…or the air…or the gas…or something. Or maybe it was only in sympathy for the cause that the Herald did the same brief burp/loss of power/quick recovery on my way home from meeting up with you and the NET folks in Guilderland It truly was a pleasure, though, to finally meet you in person, if ever so briefly! — Andy Mace