7th ANNUAL NO FRILLS IRON BOTTOM MOTORING TOUR 2005!!
The Iron Bottom Rally is a semi-disorganized tour of 1000 miles of some of California's best roads. I had read with great interest about the 2004 rally and was determined to get my car in tip top shape in order to make the 2005 rally. Of course Father Murphy struck as usual and it was like an episode of American Hot Rods with me scrambling to get everything finshed in time! My clutch hydraulic problems kept me busy until early March, The week before the tour, I decided to have carpet "temporarily" installed over my bare somewhat rusty floor pans. I did not need a "quality" job since I am planning on removing the carpet after Solvang so I can remove rust and repaint the floor pans. So I took the car to a guy in Whittier. I did not have a referral, but figured "What's the worst that could happen?" I didn't bother to notice that the sign above the door said "Two Crack Smoking Monkeys With An Axe Upholstery Shop"
The morons had no clue how to re-install the seats, losing about half of my fasteners. They mounted the driver seat track over the one of the belts, not over the strap mind you, OVER THE BUCKLE!! Yes! the track was teeter-tottering on the floor. Then, a day later at home and two days before the rally, I noticed that they cut halfway through the passenger seat belt!! ARGHHH!!!! I made a quick call to Wesco Performance to order a replacement shoulder belt. (I installed aftermarket 3-point belts in the car... ...I will add details to the web site later.) They overnighted the new belt to me.
Then, I noticed that the car was not starting as strong. I had been using the alternator from the original engine and suspected it was pooping out. Sure enough, it was dead. So, the day before the rally, I put in the new seat belt, replaced the radiator and re-installed the seats with all the proper fasteners. It was just like "Overhaulin" with all my last minute scrambling and low and behold, I saw Chip Foose at my Home Depot!! I had to corral him and tell him about all of this. He was a heck of nice guy and thought the whole V8 Datsun Roadster thing was cool.
The Iron Bottom Rally was a blast! My car performed real well and ate up the twisties. The real fun was on the road from King City to Coalinga. I dropped it in fourth and blew past 7 cars at 110 mph. The car was real well-received with the rest of the group. I was also pleased that the temp gauge hovered at 190 degrees for the entire trip! However, I will admit it was DAMN cold during most of the tour!
Some photos and links are below:
http://www.bench-racing.com/html/no_frills.html
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2128256154
http://www.empireneptune.com/host/gal-ironbottom-0405/
That's my co-pilot Joe. The view is overlooking Morro Bay
The Axis Powers Together Again (Japanese, Italian, German)
Cars and Drivers. Lot's of Z cars participated including Les Canaday of Classic Datsun Motorsports in the orange Bondurant car.
