6/15/09
My apologies to Clint Eastwood. Yesterday was the Datsuns NW show in Canby, which had elements of all three of Clint's adjectives. But I'll examine them in a more positive order.
The Bad - Obviously, the loss of my car's fuel door latch. (See next paragraph.) It will take some effort to find one as nice as what I had. (Great chrome, no pitting, nice cad plating on the retainer and the latch lever.) But I'm pretty confident that I will find one eventually.
The Ugly - Also obviously, the cretin who stole my car's fuel door latch, while the car was unattended during the raffle/award ceremonies. Sad to think that it was taken by someone who apparently shares an interest in 240Zs, but doesn't share my values and respect for other people's property. Karma will catch up to him someday. "Do ya feel lucky, punk?" (Oops! Now I've got to apologize to Clint again.)
The Good - In total, the good still out-weighed the bad. It was a nice drive, both ways. We got lucky on the way home, Deanna and I decided we'd get off the freeway and take Hwy 20 to Sweet Home, and then drive some back roads to Springfield and home. As the exit to 20 approached, I got in the right lane, put on my signal and started off. It was as we were already exiting that Deanna noticed the sea of brake lights about 200 yards past the off ramp. Swung around back East and over the freeway - looked down to see that I-5 South was a very long, narrow parking lot as far as we could see. Fantastic timing for us, not so good for people who didn't get off at that exit. No idea what the issue was, nor how far down the road.
Had a great time chatting with friends. We really do need to get together more often, as between wandering to look at cars too, there was a little time spent with everyone, but not enough with anyone.
Learned a couple of things, too. Might have found a clue on a slave cylinder issue (clutch feel problem). Both my car and Jim's suffer from this, so I'm hopeful. And I learned (after seeing Toni's red 240Z in person) that the muffler used in the MSA Premium exhaust doesn't fit as badly as I had thought/feared, and that system may yet be a viable choice for my car. It is still a bit larger tubing than I consider optimal, and I'll probably need a lift to install and fit it properly. Might have to make a deal with Steve on some lift time...
