Previous Page Jay's Home Page Next Page
Thursday, 05/01/03; Ormond Beach, Florida
Ormond What!
We know, we said we were heading for Savannah, Georgia – and we were. However along the way, our plans were suddenly changed. We departed Titusville on schedule. The day was cloudy, humid and about 80 degrees. The Smiths were in the lead and we were making good time. Traffic was light until we approached Daytona Beach where we encountered “work” traffic. Once on the north side of Daytona, traffic again became light. We had just passed the first exit for Ormond Beach when we heard Joanie say on the CB, “We’re having a problem and are pulling over.” Keith looked in the rearview mirror to see the Olson’s car edging to the shoulder of the road. Joann called back to the Olsons that we would take the next off ramp and try to double back to where they were parked. We went over a hill and then off the off ramp to US Route 1.
The intent was to do a “one-eighty” turn and go back down the I-95 and then double back. We didn’t see a southbound on-ramp, so we turned south on US-1 and drove several miles to the first major road heading west to the Interstate. Not knowing if the road connected to the Interstate, Keith inquired of a local truck driver sitting in a fast food parking lot, how was the best way to get on I-95 northbound. We received instructions and after about nine miles found the on-ramp and were speeding north to what, we knew not. Finally we spied the Model A sitting by the road and pulled in behind. We were eager to learn of the problem. Dennis told us that the car suddenly lost forward momentum, although the engine was running fine. He said something happened in the drive train. The Olsons had already called the AAA for a tow truck. While we waited, Dennis got out the Model A Ford Club of America membership directory and looked up members in the Ormond Beach area. He made contact with Eric Evans who said he would try to contact other members in the area that may be able to help and that we should expect a call from him in an hour.
Olsons' bad luck & Gene's towing service
A light rain had started by the time the tow truck arrived, about 30 minutes later. The car was loaded onto the flatbed and we followed behind making a sad procession in light rain to the garage in Ormond Beach. We pulled into a rural industrial area and the car was off-loaded and pushed into the garage for disassembly and inspection. This was a slow process, as the mechanic (Gomer Pyle) had no Model A experience and Dennis had to coach him on how to pull the rear end out of the car.
After about 45 minutes, Keith and Joann decided this was going to be a lengthy stay and that we had better find overnight accommodations. They left and drove back to the northern exit and found rooms. Joann stayed at the motel and did laundry while Keith went back to the garage to lend moral support, or any other support that he could.
Left to right: Let the disassembly begin; Dennis & "Gomer"; Rear-end pulled; "Gomer wrestles the overdrive
At the garage, Keith met Eric Evans, the local Model A’er, a nice gentleman from Michigan who had retired in the area and had helped reactivate the local Model A club. He explained that all the members of the club were away from home, but that he would provide what help he could. He stayed around most of the day in case he could provide a needed part. Finally the rear end was pulled and the driveline could be inspected. External inspection showed nothing wrong, so the overdrive (a Borg-Warner) was disassembled. It too, appeared to be in working order. The puzzled mechanics began to look closer at all the parts and “Gomer” found metal shavings in the spline of the overdrive out put shaft. This part connects to the drive going into the differential by means of a splined collar. Close inspection revealed the splines in one end of the collar had been stripped. Welding the collar to the shaft was the solution chosen; however by this time a deluge of rain was falling. When the rain abated, the shaft was taken to the welder, who did a good job of making the assembly once again functional. Now began the task of putting the overdrive back together. While this may sound simple, it didn’t happen that way. The final assembly of the case halves was stymied because a shaft and spring didn’t seem to line up. The case halves were oh, so close, but would not mate – missing by about 1/32d of an inch! This process of alignment and mating went on for over an hour. Dennis said this had happened to him once before, but he wasn’t certain just what he had done to correct the situation. Keith placed a call to Ron (Mosher) in California to see if Ron could give us a hint. Ron wasn’t in the shop, so a message was left explaining the situation and asking him to call. Sometime while all this was going on, Keith took Joan back to the motel.
Dennis sent Keith out for oil filters, so that when the repair was done, we could get our oil changed. Again, we had more rain in an hour than Los Angeles will get all year. (One happy note. Keith discovered that the Victoria’s roof, which had been full of holes in Key West, now was waterproof – the RTV silicone sealer applied after that incident had done its job!) Finally, Dennis sent Keith back to the motel and said that he would stay until closing time (which he couldn’t get anyone to tell him – seems it was a dark secret!). When Keith got to the motel, he called Mel Gross in California, Model A mechanic and parts rebuilder extraordinaire. Mel said the shaft had to be “played” with to keep it from hanging up. He cautioned, “Whatever you do, don’t try to force the halves of the case together!” This information substantiated what we surmised. Dennis didn’t call for over two hours, so we guessed that he had talked the shop into staying open. Finally, we received a call from the front desk and asked if we had picked up Mr. Olson. We didn’t know that we were supposed to! A very unpleasant manager had thrown Dennis out of the shop. The calls he had made to the motel had not been forwarded to us by an incompetent desk clerk, so Dennis was left dangling. Fortunately the rain had long since passed us by.
The adventure doesn’t quite end there. Dennis was returned to the motel where he was able to shower and rid himself of sweat, grime and the stench of 600 transmission lubricant. We walked to the restaurant at the motel for a late and quiet dinner – we thought. It was Karaoke (Spelling?) Night! The music was loud, if not good! Keith had to threaten to leave if the volume was not brought down to earsplitting level. It was brought down from 140 decibels to 120 (pain level). While we were waiting for our checks, a particularly loud and untalented singer forced Keith to leave to do more important things like covering the Ford. While writing up this little episode, the phone rang. It was Ron returning the call of this afternoon. Ron said that he had called back, but the office manager wouldn’t call Dennis to the phone. The manager said that they were closing and couldn’t be bothered!
Did the Dauntless Four ever get the overdrive installed? Was the car assembled? Did they get back on the road? You’ll have to visit this web site to find out!
Bloodied, but unbowed,
The Dauntless Four
