Wow, this has been a brutal Month of April preparing for the Route 66 trip. Blog, website, and social media-type participation took a back seat to hard core wrench-turning, problem solving, and parts-acquisition. Aardvark was picked up from that ever-artistic perfectionist, Jeff Kleiner, in early April. Why? Well, Jeff spent the winter disassembling the Aardvark Cobra, meticulously fitting and perfecting every body panel, before painting, then reassembling the whole car to have it ready for the Route 66 trip. What a treat to see the paint job on my completed car in Jeff’s shop!
Aardvark was trailered straight from Jeff’s in Indiana to Whitby Motorcars in Greensboro, North Carolina for fitment of a custom-made soft top. It took a day of hard work and innovation, but we accomplished “removable weather protection” should rainy weather intrude on our trip down Route 66. Many thanks to Barry, Cameron and Jeff Collins at Whitby for their expert approach to inventing, manufacturing, and installing this soft top.
Aardvark’s last trailer ride was back to Waynesville NC, where I live in the summer. The last three weeks of April were dedicated to putting some mountain driving miles on the car, to see if there were any defects, leaks, loose parts, etc. that we hadn’t already taken care of. EXCEPT problems intruded. The car spent much of the month up in the air on jack stands, mostly for improvement or replacement of leaking brake components, and tuning of the engine’s Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) system. Since I’m my own mechanic, I learn by making mistakes…which is NOT permissible when dealing with the Cobra’s brake system! Eventually we conquered and perfected the parts, installation, and “bleeding” of the brake system, and eliminated the eccentric behavior of the EFI, leaving three days to finish road-testing the Aardvark. So far, so good! Many thanks to Dave Smith, President of Factory Five Racing for his personal involvement instructing me on a braking solution, to Mark and Brendan Dougherty (Traveling FFR Builder and Battalion Motorsports) for invaluable advice and instructions that were spot-on, and to local friends Mike Whitaker and Doug McElreath who gave their time, advice and help to get the Aardvark on the road in time for the Route 66 trip. Road tested 100 miles today.
Two days left before we leave for Chicago. Whew, done just in time!
