Radiator Leak........Again!!!

We took the A for a quick spin to get her warmed up on Monday afternoon.  Came home to find there was antifreeze on the block, distributor and the firewall.  We also noted a bit of oil seeping around the head gasket.  We had been seeing emulsification in the oil filler tube and were concerned that the head gasket was leaking.  So a call to the mechanic was in order.

This morning we took the car over to the mechanic for a check up.  Seems that the head gasket isn't leaking, but the radiator has a small leak at the top.  Suggestion - get some Barr's Leak for the radiator and give that a go.  Also, it was discovered that the front two head bolts were quite loose and were given a good torque, along with the rest of the head bolts.

We also added a can of Seafoam to the oil to see if we could get the water to evaporate from the oil.  We will drive it a couple of weeks and see where it stands.

So, we were soon back on the road headed for home.  The car is running very well, not using any oil, so really no complaints.  We just want to make sure it is completely ready to hit the mountains in May when we go on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the MAFCA National Tour.

I did a bit more finish work to the side curtains.  They are working very well at keeping the cold wind and rain out of the cockpit as we drive down the road.  Much nicer conditions for winter driving!

North Myrtle Beach

We left home on Friday morning at 7:10.  We had to make our way across Columbia with everybody rushing to get to work.  We made it to Garners Ferry Road about 8:05 and decided to gas up before meeting with the group headed to the beach.  Of course, we were the last to arrive.  We did have the furthest to come and the most amount of traffic to drive through.  

There were 7 A's ready to head out for our first stop of the day.  We were headed for Mullins, SC and Webster Manor.  Webster Manor has a fabulous lunch buffet during the week.  Arriving, we were met by the Barnes and the Tooles.  The Tooles had spent the night at the Inn and graciously showed us around the beautiful old home.

Lunch was delicious, as always!  Soon, we were on our way for our destination - North Myrtle Beach. We arrived around 2:30, checked in and split up into the three houses for the weekend.  We didn't think we would want any supper after such a large lunch, but around 6:30 we decided to head to a local hamburger joint for a light supper - Hamburger Joe's was just the ticket.  Our house group piled into the Barnes modern SUV - Danny crammed himself into the area behind the third row seating for the short ride to the restaurant.  He is such a good sport!  After supper, we watched a movie in our house, Wild Hawgs, it was hilarious!

Saturday morning dawned bright and cold!  Danny and Cheryl cooked us a grand breakfast! Everybody headed in different directions for shopping, hitting golf balls and just having a relaxing day. Cheryl and I headed for the outlets and did our best to help out the local economy.  John and Danny headed for the golf outlets and then went and hit a bucket of balls at the driving range.  We all met back at the house around 4:30.  Supper was at Crab Catchers in Little River.  Great place for inexpensive, delicious fresh seafood!

Sunday morning was very, very cold!  We packed up the cars and left the beach around 9:30.  We were headed for the little town of Scranton, SC and lunch at Schoolhouse Barbecue.  We hadn't gone very far, when John Cockerill began having trouble with his car.  It just wasn't running right.  We finally made it to the restaurant about an hour later than planned.  Lunch was very good.  Of course, the cars were quite the hit with the patronage of the restaurant!  As soon as lunch was over, a tech session ensued on John Cockerill's car.  It seemed that the cutoff switch, which was mounted on the starter had come loose and fallen down, shorting out the battery.  He decided to drive the car as far as he could, trying to make it back to Columbia.  We got just about to Sumter when it just wouldn't keep going.  So, AAA was called for a tow back home.

The rest of us continued on to Columbia, arriving in town about 4.  We all stopped at a gas station, said our goodbyes and split up.

It was a great weekend, celebrating the 2012 MAFCA National Awards Banquet success in Charleston!  It looks as if we have a great central core going forward with the Palmetto A's into 2013!